Travels in Indo-China and the Chinese empire

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TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA,

LONDON:
EOBSON ASD SONS, PRINTERS, PANCRAS ROAD, N W.

TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA

THE CHINESE EMPIRE

Bl

LOUIS DE CAENE,

MEMBER OF THE COUMISSIOK OF KXPLORATION OF THE MEKONQ.

NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR PY THE COUNT BE GARNE.

SranslatcllJ from t\t ^nKt\.

LONDON:
CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PtCCADILLY.

1872. ; ,

AS 7'

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Notice of the Life of the Authob . . . . . vii

INTKODUCTION.

Establishment of the Feench Pbotectokate over the King-
dom OF Cambodgia .1

CHAPTER I.

EuiNS OF Angcob. Stung-Teeng. Eapids of Khon-Khong.

Aebival at Bassac . . . . . . . -34

CHAPTER II.

Stat at Bassac. Excuesion to Attopee. The Forests. Sa-
vages AND Elephants. We leave Bassac. TJbone . . 65

CHAPTER III.
Departure fbom Ubone. Journey by Land. Halt at Khema-

RAT ON the BoEDERS OP THE IVIeKONG. ARRIVAL AT VlEN-

Chan. Visit to the Euins of that ancient Capital . 98

CHAPTER IV.

The Kingdom of Luang-Peaban. Exceptional Position of
THE King of this Countey towards the Court op Bang-
kok. Help which he rendered the Commission. Tomb of
Henri Mouhot. Spring Feasts 133

xi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

PAGE

Entry into the Burman Tbrritort. Bad Feeling of tue Au-
thorities. The Raint Season. Muong-Line. Sien-Tong.
Muong Yon AND SiEN-HoNG. Frontier OF China . .166

CHAPTEE VI.
Western China . . 210

CHAPTER VII.

Landscapes and Sketches in Yunan . . 248

CHAPTER VIII.

The Mussulman Insurrection in China, and the Kingdom of

Tali .... . . 285 .

CHAPTEE IX.
The Blue River. Arrival at Shanghai, and return to Saigon 324

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOK.

Alebady struck by the disease to wMcli he finally
succumbed, my son had prepared everything for the
publication of the narrative of the journey in which
he had exhausted his strength ; and I now only carry
through what he had himself arranged. This book, the
composition of which was his last delight, wiU preserve
at least a trace of hiTn in that country where a great
future awaited him, even in the opinion of those more
able to judge, and more disinterested, than a father. I
cannot but think that, in these iagenuous pages, some
traits will be seen of that noble nature, in which the
glowing ardour of youth showed itself associated with
a precocious maturity; a nature which cast across the
sallies of a fine mind a shadow of sadness too much in
harmony with his fate. Closed at the age of twenty-
seven, his brief career was summed up in the long
journey which was the object of his keenest desires,
the perils and fatigues of which he never regretted, even
when he could no longer deceive himself as to the price
he would soon have to pay for them.

Admitted iu 1863, after having finished his studies,
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Louis de Came was
attached to the commercial department. The consular
service, isolating him, for the time, from politics, had the
advantage of opening before him those vast distant per-
spectives, to which he felt himself specially drawn.

viii NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

Having a taste for political economy and ethnography,
the mimerous documents, which he had to consult daily,
were exactly what his inclination would have chosen.
He studied the different schemes of colonisation tried in
our day with special delight, and the travels published
in England and Germany were familiar to him. He
read them pen in hand, and thus they form precious
relics, in which I love to retrace, as if it were a breath
of his spirit, the outline of his first thoughts.

In hardly legible notes, referring to his daily occupa-
tions, I notice these words, under date of Jan. 27, 1864:
' We try to defend ourselves against the Socialists by
argument, by laws, and, if need be, by bayonets ; and all
this is well enough ; but a hungry stomach has neither
reason nor ears, and ideas will not triumph over want,
especially when it has. the ballot-box in its control.

' If, then, France be not able to find, at a distance,
the "Par "West," which the happy fortune of the United
States has set close at their hand, she wiH assuredly
see the sunset of civilisation in that of liberty.'

Five years later, in the project of a colonial estab-
lishment at the mouths of the Songkoi, which the young
writer recommended to public notice, I find the same
fear and the same prepossession, expressed in almost
identical terms. In the interval between the two dates,
the expedition took place in which he engaged with so
brave a heart, because it seemed the consecration of his
reigning thought.

In the spring of 1865, Admiral La Grandiere, my
brother-in-law, obtained leave to come to France for his
family, and take them to Cochin-China, the territory of
which he was soon to double without shedding a drop of
blood. My son took part in the frequent conversations
as to the future of this rich country, peopled by an intel-

NOTICE OP TIDE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. ix

ligent race, in no way hostile to our own ; he asked his
uncle the condition of Cambodgia, of which France had
just assumed the protectorate, and listened to the Admiral
as he expressed the hope of some day seeing our colony
connected with China, by a magnificent river communi-
cation, the mouth of which would be under the control
of France.

The Governor of Cochin-China believed that he could
attract to Saigon, a city laid out for half a million
inhabitants, the important commerce which is carried
on by caravans between Laos, Burmah, Thibet, and the
western provinces of the Chinese Empire, thinking it by
no means impossible to secure for its chief artery the
Mekong, which diverts into the Indian Ocean the waters
of the Himalayan plateaux. To secure for Europe, in
its trade with the Celestial Empire, a vast entrep6t, of
easy access, and at the same time free the route from
China, shortened by twelve hundred miles, from that
part of the voyage in which the periodical monsoons are
to be especially 'dreaded, would have been no incon-
siderable service to the general commerce of the world,
as well as to our own colony, which must, as the result,
have become one of its principal centres.

Since the establishment of France in Cochin-China,
England had redoubled its efforts to find, at last, that
route from India to China, by Biirmah and Timan,
hitherto sought for in vain : efforts quite natural, siace
this route would enable her to draw this great commer-
cial current to her Asiatic possessions, by the upper val-
leys, along which fiow the rivers of Indo-China. To get
the start of oiu- rivals was, then, a matter of the utmost
importance.

These considerations struck the Marquis de Chasse-
loup, then Minister of Marine and Colonies, strongly ;

X NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

and it is to his persistency France owes the preservation
of Cochin-China, long threatened in the councUs of the
Second Empire. This minister approved the scheme of
a grand scientific mission, which, ascending the Mekong
from its mouth to its still undiscovered sources, should
report fully on the navigability of that great river,
then almost unknown beyond the lake of Angcor. He
thought it especially necessary to display the flag of
France to the swarming populations on the river- sides,
an establishment among whom would be an introduction
to us to those countries. This mission of exploration,
designed to serve at once the interests of science, and
colonial interests of the first importance, was to have
been composed, as first planned, independent of servants,
and of a military escort of about twenty-five soldiers, as
follows :

A superior officer of the navy — chief of the expedi-
tion.

Two officers charged with hydrographic matters, as-
tronomical observations, surveying, and sketching.

A naval surgeon, as botanist, as well as to act pro-
fessionally.

Some one appointed by government to act as minera-
logist and geologist, especially in the relations of these
sciences to the industrial arts.

Some one appointed by the Minister for Foreign Af-
fairs as secretary to the commission, charged also with
the study of whatever concerned politics and commerce.

M. Drouyn de Lhuys, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
threw himself heartily into the project of his colleague!
He was pleased to appoint my son to represent his de-
partment, authorising him to correspond with him during
the expedition; and, crushed as my heart is to-day, I
cherish a lively remembrance of this honour; for one

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xi

can die for his country on the battle-field of science as
truly as on that of war.

Louis de Cam^ left France in the autumn of 1865.
He spent some happy weeks in Egypt, of which he
retained that fond recollection, which their first steps in
a foreign land leave in the heart of the young. He had
the pleasure of there meeting his brother, then connected
with M. Lesseps' great undertaking, and with him was
able to examine the works of the canal, in which France,
then in the height of its confidence and strength, flat-
tered itself to see a marvellous way opened to the ex-
treme East, where it had just raised its flag.

On his arrival at Saigon, at the close of December
1865, the young attach^ devoted the first weeks of his
residence to visiting the three provinces of Lower Cochin-
China, the only ones then belonging to France ; and in
his correspondence with the department of Foreign AfEaii-s
reported on their condition with that entire freedom
which was at once his characteristic and his duty. This
visit ended, the governor of Cochin-China sent him to
Cambodgia, where he was able, during the months that
necessarily elapsed before the receipt of passports de-
manded at Bangkok and Pekin, to continue his personal
observations, before returning to Saigon, to join the
members of the scientific expedition, at last assembled.

It was during this first stay at Cambodgia he met
M. de Lagr^e, who had been intrusted, through the
admiral, to conduct this difficult enterprise. The rare
ability of this officer wUl be seen in the introduction to
my son's book, in the way he induced the king, Noro-
dom, at whose court he was the military agent of the
governor, to ask the protectorate of France, after long
hesitation, caused by the threats of the Siamese govern-
ment. By nature brave and sympathetic, M. de Lagree

xii NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

hid a generous heart under the inflexible rigoiii- befitting
a military command, of which he seemed the living em-
bodiment. Always master of himself in the most terrible
extremities, he took minute precautions for the safety
of others, which he would hare disdained for his own.

Already threatened by disease, this eminent officer,
whose name heads the list of deaths closed by that of
Louis de Carn^, accepted the command of the expedition,
to which the public voice called him, only from his de-
votion to science, and in spite of a presentiment, felt from
the outset, of the fate awaiting him. He required, as
indispensable to the unity of direction, and the success of
the enterprise, material alterations of the plan arranged
at Paris, and thus, under the naval discipline which he
enforced, the special agent of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs found himself seriously hampered, being unable,
till the end of the journey, to correspond with the de-
partment to which he belonged. The prohibition from
doing so, which was only communicated on the eve of
starting, put him in a painfal dilemma. He must either
submit to it, contrary to the text of his private instruc-
tions, or decline to set out, at the risk of seeming to
have deserted his post, at the approach of danger. He
felt that this was impossible, lodged a protest, and started
with the rest.

The expedition, which so many vows attended, left
Saigon in June 1866. A gunboat bore it over the deep
waters of the Mekong, which spread into a wide and
tranquil lake before disclosing its roaring current its
impassable rapids, and the terrors of its fathomless
whirlpools. The final arrangements were made in the
territory of the tributary prince, and some days of study
and of initiation into their work were devoted to the
ruins of Angcor, as imposing as the ruins of Thebes or

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xiii

Memphis, and more mysterious. Soon after, they reached
Laos, whose putrid exhalations had proved fatal to all
the missionaries who had encountered them, and, still
more recently, to M. Mouhot, the only traveller who,
for two centuries, had set foot on this ill-omened soil.

This was the moment of the last adieus and the most
poignant emotions. In these waters, now bottomless,
now barred by sandbanks, it was necessary to use boats
managed by natives, and to separate themselves, with
farewell letters to France, from the steam gunboat,
whose flag and black streaks symbolised still, in these
deserts, civilisation and home.

I shall not describe this voyage, in which tried sailors
and accomplished men had to put their lives at the
mercy of barbarians, depending on their skill for help,
which science cotJd no longer supply : a navigation un-
paralleled, which led the voyagers from a sheet of water,
of which the eye cordd hardly take in the expanse, to
unsoundable gorges overhung by Alpine precipices, and
bore them, from the burning heat of a fiery sky, to the
shade of impenetrable woods, where the Mekong lost it-
self in a labyrinth of islets, of weeds, and of trees rising
from the bosom of the waters. It is not for me to repeat
either the hazards of that life of adventure, supported
chiefly by fishing and hunting, or the violence of a tor-
rent-like stream, which soon forced the admission of its
being unnavigable, as an indisputable conclusion, on
three naval officers, whom it grieved to the heart to
have to own it. I shall say nothing of the long win-
tering in the marshes of Burmah, where, already, the
unhappy travellers, forced to dismiss the greater part
of their escort, exhausted by fever and by privations,
their feet naked and their limbs torn, disputed what
remained of their impoverished blood with myriads

XIV NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

of leeclies, vampires more terrible than the tigers and
serpents of Laos.

This book will show what these trials were, of which
each day, during eighteen months, varied the nature and
agony. It will disclose the wiles of a half-barbarous
diplomacy, and will set in the clearest light the almost
insurmountable difficulties of the leader of the expedi-
tion among the petty independent chiefs of Central Asia,
with whom the recommendations of the court of Bangkok
had no influence, and who paid no regard even to those
of the court of Pekin. All this is told, as it seems
to me, with a circumstantiality and naturalness, which
bring the sreality before the reader. If the narrative is
coloured, it is because the picturesque rises from the
subject itself; if, in spite of the gaiety with which such
miseries are borne, tears sometimes come to the eyes,
they are the true lacrymce rerum, called forth neither by
the art nor the design of the author.

The days during which it was necessary to struggle
against the cataracts of the stream, or to seek food from
the creatures of the virgin forests, were not, however,
the worst to pass, for the sufferings of the mind and the
tortures of the heart were thus escaped. I have often
heard my son say, that the members of the expedition
preferred these times of struggle to the intervals of com-
parative ease, when safety, assured for the moment, car-
ried back the travellers, deprived, for eighteen months,
of all news from Europe, to sad recollections, which woke
the thought of their absent families, and of that France,
whose very name was unknown in those regions. At
such seasons they kept long silence, each unwilling to
be the first to broach the one subject which interested
all alike. But when at drum-beat, each morning, they
rose with the dawn,— the camp surmounted by the

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. XV

national colours, — each could see, on the clouded brow
of Hs neighbour, what tender visions had passed in the
troubled dreams of the night.

Meanwhile, they advanced a little each day, and the
prospect of return, now realised as possible, rekindled
their spirits. If it had been necessary to give up the
hope of making the Mekong the grand maritime route
of Indo-China, and Saigon one of the £rst ports of the
world," — ^if, with this, the great end of the expedition had
failed, — still, geography and the natural sciences con-
tinued to yield the courageous travellers the most im-
portant observations, and the most precious collections.^

Moreover, it was found that the perfect navigabUity
of the Songkoi — a fine river, which flows into the guK
of Tonkin, and is every way fitted to promote the com-
mercial intercourse of the Celestial Empire with our
new colony — was proved beyond question. The earnest
desire to find, at last, that route to China — the discovery
of which, reserved to France, would mark the hour
when they could prepare for the inexpressible happiness
of returning — ^was redoubled by this stimulus.

It will be told in this narrative how the travellers,
having reached, in January 1868, the borders of Yunan,
on the other side of a range of mountains, thought im-
passable, came all at once, when they were not expect-
ing it, on the soil of the great empire. It will be seen
mth what joyful shouts they saluted this land, sought
for so long ; a land in which, thanks to a powerful civi-
lisation, they were as safely protected, at eight hundred

2 Evirope will be able to judge of the value of the labours of the Com-
mission of the Mekong when the great publication, prepared for the Minister
of Marine and the Colonies, at last sees the day. Delayed by the sad events
of the war, it has been recommenced, and is continued steadily by naval
Lieutenant Garmer, with the assistance of naval Lieutenant Delaporte, and
Doctors Joubert and Thorel.

xvi NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

leagues from Pekin, by the official letters of Prince
Kong, as tliey could have been in a faubourg of that

capital.

Notwithstanding the obsequious respect shown by
the Chinese functionaries to the strangers in rags, whom
the prestige of an official despatch served in lieu of
decent clothing, it was in China they met their most
cruel trial. In order to penetrate, in compliance with
his instructions, to the sources of the Mekong, hidden
in the highest mountains of Thibet, Commandant de
Lagr^e, then lying on a bed of sickness, determined that
some of the commission should proceed by the north-
west into the part of the Celestial Empire disturbed
by a Mussulman insurrection, and that they should try,
by letters obtained in Tunan from the secret chiefs
of that strange movement, to reach to the very capital
of the new kingdom founded by the rebels. Appointed
to this task, with two officers, the author of this book
has been able to give Europe the first correct details of
the vast social convulsion, which, springiag originally
from Arabia, wrestles with Bouddhism, even at Pekin
and Lhassa. ,

The earlier stages of this daring enterprise, which
had the assistance of one of our devoted missionaries,
gave, for a moment, a flattering hope of success. The
adventurous travellers were able to reach Tali-Fou, the
citadel of a faith wandered a thousand leagues from its
cradle; but they did so only after passing through a
country covered with ruins and with whitened bones of
men and beasts, to find themselves face to face with a
capricious tyrant, and an excited population which de-
manded their heads. Escaping, as by a miracle, from
this bloody den, but disappointed in their most cherished
geographical hope, they reentered the territory of the Son

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OP THE AUTHOR. xvii

of Heaven, only to learn the death of the leader, who,
after having so skilfully directed the expedition, had
just succumbed, rather to the weight of his responsi-
bilities than to the blow of disease. But M. de Lagr^e's
work was done, and his name will for ever be connected
with the history of discovery in these regions.

Having, through his care, reached within a few days'
march of the Blue Eiver, which, from west to east, washes
the empire through its whole course, the members of the
commission were able to embark with his precious re-
mains, which they carried with them. A Chinese junk,
which was soon exchanged for a smart American steamer,
bore to Shanghai, in some weeks of easy navigation,
through the most populous provinces on the globe, the
grand ambassadors of the West, who had hardly been
able to get shoes for their feet ; and the French of that city
welcomed the travellers, long given up as dead, with an
enthusiasm in which all the Eiiropean population joined.

Although, outside the provinces of Yunan and of
Setchuen, he only came in contact with the towns on
the river, Louis de Cam6 bore away ineffaceable im-
pressions of the country. In his daily conversations he
reverted continually to these strange regions, which he
called the intellectual antipodes of the Christian world.
The petrifaction of a whole race, which has not changed
since the dawn of history, seemed to him an inexplic-
able moral phenomenon.

'The Chinese are not only old, they are decrepit,'
he writes, in his manuscript notes of 1869; 'and the
amazing thing is that this world of old people has never
been young, as far back as we can trace them. It speaks,
thinks, and feels to-day as it did three thousand years
ago. The language, the system of writing, the laws,
and the rites, uniting to destroy all human spontaneity.

xviii NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

have paralysed in its cradle this fossil race, which is
senile without having ever been anything else.

'The small success made by the missionaries in
China may at times surprise us ; for it is hard to under-
stand how doctrines so noble as those they preach should
have so little influence on the crowds of mandarins,
whose life is spent in study. But may not any one
see, that the more educated the Chinese are, the more
memory gains, in these perfected machines, at the ex-
pense of intelligence ? Christianity, which aspires to
develop human individuality, strives vainly in this sad
country against a creed which has succeeded in crush-
ing it; it is life trying to galvanise death. China is
Lazarus in the grave: it ^^ already stinks-'^ to raise it,
by making it Christian, needs, as of old, the hand of
God. Our missionaries seem to me like Daniel in the
lions' den; only the lions are, nowadays, toothless;
but, besides having filed their teeth, the naval powers
will need also to clip their claws, or they will, before
long, use them fiercely enough.

' The Chinese question, which is at once religious,
naval, and territorial, will thrust itself on cabinets in
spite of doctrinaire economists ; for the tutelage of bar-
barism is an obligation of civilisation. The admiration
which the philosophy of last century affected for China,
is, in my opinion, one of its greatest crimes. An. abyss
separates the most corrupted Christian nation from Chi-
nese depravity.' 3

This moral and political problem of China filled the
soul of the young traveller. It was the subject to which
he most readily reverted to the close of his life ; and the
fever must have been fierce indeed, or the prosti-ation
intense, when a conversation on it did not rouse and re-

^ Notes inedites cle 1869.

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. XIX

animate my dear sick one, bringing me for the moment
a fond illusion of hope. When, for a time, he revived,
and began to think he might still recover, he delighted
to sketch out a plan of study, which -would naturally
have led him to treat this great question. He proposed
to describe, some day, the state of Christianity in the
extreme East, and hoped to be sent to Japan, to be able
to study it there. In a narrative in which the Catholic
missions would have had the first place, he rejoiced in
advance at the pleasure he would have in making known
a crowd of details respecting the poor converts, always
trembling under a yoke hardly yet lightened; and,
above all, in repeating what he had felt, when, on a
Christmas night, he heard for the first time, resounding
under a roof of bamboos, in the midst of the mountains
which divide China from Thibet, the chants which had
cradled his infancy, and how he, a worn traveller, re-
ceived the strengthening sacrament from the mutilated
hands of an old confessor.

After a sojourn of some weeks in Cochin-China —
which he foTind completed by the annexation of three
fine provinces, but in which he met the bitter disap-
pointment of not seeing his family, who had already
left — ^he was able, at last, to set sail for France. He
reached it at the close of 1868, bearing in his breast,
though without any outward apparent symptom as yet,
the seeds of the mortal malady by which ancient Asia
seems to wish to defend itself against the invasion of
Europe. I have not the courage to recall the joys of
his return, which Providence made so brief, while the
succeeding anguish has been so long.

Deputed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the
exploration of the Mekong, the young traveller bent all
his energy to present to his department, in the course

XX NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

of 1869, an extended report of the results: what little
leisure lie had from this task, he devoted to these papers
in the Revue des Deux Monies, often a literal reproduc-
tion of the journal written during the journey, at times
on the bench of a canoe borne on the course of the
stream, at times in the depth of the forest, in a tent set
up for the night.

A good constitution bore for long the steady pro-
gress of a disease, which the invalid hid from others
without concealing from himself; a steady progress,
which neither the lights of science, nor the assiduous
care of the dearest companion* of his journeys, could
conjure away.

At last, in compliance with the desire of his chiefs,
who very much wished to procure him a post in Egypt,
of whatever kind would most perfectly suit him, he made
a trial of his strength in the first months of 1870, in a
short excursion to England. The experiment was not
encouraging ; and my son, with too sure a presentiment
of the fate that awaited him, returned to seclude him-
self in the home of his childhood, which he quitted no
more, and where we comforted him with our loving
attentions, though its well-loved landscapes, alas, only
pleased his eyes without reviving his heart.

The feverish agitation increased when he heard our
earlier disasters, and when unfavourable bulletins reached
me, I had to bear not only what I suffered as a French-
man, but what the effect made me endure as a father.

The agony became more intolerable when all our
Breton youth set off to defend their country. "When
he stood in front of his brothers, to give them the fare-
well salute, he was overwhelmed by the disclosure of

* Dr. Joubert, member of the scientific commission of the Metong, now
medical inspector of the thermal baths of Bagnoles.

NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. XXI

his own weakness. From that day, the world, where
there remained no longer a place for him, in the ex-
tremity of our puhlic perils, seemed to fade and dis-
appear from his eyes ; and, separating himself, without
effort, from a future which was awanting alike to him
and his country, his thoughts rose, as of themselves, to
those regions where, only, the future is never clouded.
In going over some scattered pages, written with a
trembling hand, after all was ended, I found this :

' The life of man has no value except in proportion
as he has learned to contemn it by rising above it. To
be devoted, is truly to live ; to be devoted to the end,
is to live beyond it.'

These words are, perhaps, the last he wrote before
leaving earth : they contain the expression of his as-
surance and mine.

COUNT DE CAKNE.

TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA,

ETC.

INTRODUCTION.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FKENCH PROTECTORATE OVER THE
KINGDOM. OF OAMBODGIA.

Though it is easy for theorists to attack the colonial sys-
tem, by contrasting its returns -with its cost, men called to
direct affairs, to whatever school of economy they belong,
are forced, by an iiTCsistible impulse, to those generous pro-
digalities which honour the youth of nations and profit their
riper age. Greece colonised Asia Minor, Sicily, and Italy ;
Rome moulded the world to its image by manners as well
as by arms ; and England would have been to-day no more
than a third-rate power, if the brave Anglo-Saxon race, which
covers two continents, had acted on the recent and hardly
serious theory of isolation. .The doctrine of ' every one by
himself and for himself,' is fundamentally opposed to the
genius of France, of which expansion is the law. How-
ever many her mistakes in colonial matters, her faith has
fortunately sm-vived her disappointments. The French go-
vernment has opened for us, by a victory, the gates of the
Celestial Empire, amidst universal a,pplause, and has justly
counted on the approval of all schools of politics in plant-
ing the national flag between India and Japan, at the mouth

2 TRAAT2LS IX IXDO-CHIXA.

of one of the greatest Avatei-coiu-ses of Upper Asia. The
Frenchman who arrives from Europe, after having seen Per-
sia and Malacca, and having touched at Aden, at Point de
Galle, and at Singapore, views with an nnspeakable joy the
flag which floats on the summit of Cape St. Jacques, shelter-
ing more than three millions of men, subjects of France,
whose laws, maimers, and interests, we have knoAvn how to
respect, while we have widened all their prospects.

I do not propose at present, either to enter into the condi-
tion of Cochin-China, or to sketch the future which all who
know the fertility of its soil, and the intelligent aptitude of
its people, anticipate for it. Other competent Avi-iters have
already done so. But om- possessions include one territory —
Cambodgia — the valtie of which is less understood. The
brilliant success of Admiral Rigault de Genouilly a Touranne,
the happy inspiration which took him to Saigon, the decisive
victory of Admiral Charner at Kihoa, are henceforth part of
cm' military annals, and by no means their least glorious
pages ; but it is hardly well enough known how we acquired
Cambodgia, the necessary complement of a territory w^hich,
■without it, must be permanently insecure. I shall try to tell
the stoiy. It was, besides, from this country that the expe-
dition started charged to trace to its sources the immense
river which fertilises it ; and it will therefore surprise no one
if, having lived in it for some time before the Commission
set out, I give it such special notice as will form a natm-al
introduction to the long story of our journey.

I.

The six provinces which now form our colony of Cochin-
China were formerly part of the kingdom of Cambodgia. It
is not yet 200 years since the emperor of Annam, anxious
respecting the turbulent disposition of a great number of
Chinese who had fled from their country rather than submit
to Tsing, the victorious head of the dynasty of Ming, assigned
them, very cleverly, lands in the south of his territories which
did not belong to him. They established themselves in them
and drove out the inhabitants. More recently, the Annamite
government resolved to ' levy and gather together numbers

IXTRODUCTIOX. 3

from among the common people, especially from among the
vagrants and worthless, from the province of Quang Binh,
above Hue, to Binthuan, and to transport them as colonists
into these new provinces.'^ These vagabonds have made the
stock of an honest race, and have multiplied in less than two
centuries, under the influence of Chinese legislation, which
honours and guards that central principle of civilisation, the
rights of property, to a population of three milHon souls,
who pay us to-day nearly eight millions of taxes. The Cam-
bodgians, forced towards the west, henceforth formed only
a small part of the inhabitants of Lower Cochiu-China. To
study their civilisation, so different from that which flourishes
in Armam, it was necessary to visit them ; and I therefore
determined to take advantage of the interval at my disposal
before the starting of the Commission appointed by the go-
vernor of Cochin-China to explore the basin of the Mekong,
and do so.

I left Saigon at the beginning of the year 1866, on one
of the little gunboats so well called by the police, arroyos.
On board, close to a missionary with a long beard, and some
French officers, a number of Cambodgians formed a separate
group, and chatted as they smoked. They were kinsmen
of the King Norodom, returning home, after having attended
the industrial and agricultural Exposition, which had inau-
gurated in Cochiu-China the era of the fetes of peace. Their
heads were full of what they had just seen. What puzzled
them most was, how we could not only give rewards, but
leave the exhibitors free to sell what they had brought. Such
magnanimity confounded them, and set them on healthy self-
reflection. These mandarins, powerftil and rich in spite of
their poor pay, which hardly rises, even for the highest offi-
cers, to more than a thousand francs a year, make it up from
the people, who are left all but defenceless under their piti-
less and arbitrary exactions. Their extortions have no limit,
indeed, but their interest, which too grievous a rapacity
would injure, by inducing emigration to another province.
The nephew of the king, a child of eight, had bracelets of
gold on his legs and arms. His neck was ornamented by a

^ Histoire et Description de la Basse Coc/ti«-C/u««, traduction deM.Au-
baret.

4 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CIIIXA.

motley collar of gold plates, joiaed by a thread to bits of
glass, and some stones more or less precious. He wore no
hair except on the front half of the head, and only on the
right side of that. The back ^vas clean shaved, except two
locks. His dress, like that of all the Cambodgians, was a short
jacket and a langouti, which is a kind of cotton or silk petti-
coat encircling the lower part of the body to the knees, one
end, lifted between the legs, being fixed behind to the waist-
band, the calves remaining bare. It thus recalls the Celtic
breeches, and the baggy knickerbockers of the Greeks and
Albanians. This dress, more manly than the long robe of
the Anuamites, is generally adopted by the Siamese and the
Laotians.

Princes as these travelling companions were, it was not
without some repugnance that I found myself forced to lie
down at their side, when night came, to try to sleep. The
prejudices of caste, after centuries of often bloody struggle,
have almost disappeared from France, thank God ; but for a
Em-opean, — ^however free he may think himself fi'om such
feelings, — contact with other races — yellow, black, or copper-
coloured — is always a trial. It is only after long effort that
one is able, if not entirely to conquer these inner aversions,
at least to keep them under due control. At this moment
we left the Donnai to enter the Sou-ap. We were close to
the sea, which sent us its fresh smell and its rough waters.
The wind came, with the south-east monsoon, from the side
next France, and I breathed it long, before burying myself
anew in these lands. We soon cleared the two Vaicos, to
fall into the arroyo of the Poste — a channel scooped out partly
by nature, partly by human labour — which unites the great
stream of the Mekong to the river of Saigon. It runs like a
river in an English park, between banks covered with cab-
bage-palms, palm-trees, and a thousand other trees and
plants of every colour and of varied foliage. There are no
longer those eternal monotonous mangroves of the other
arroyos of Cochin-China— amphibious shrubs, busily conquer-
ing the waters of vast pro%ances by the entanglements of
their encroaching roots. The boats which pass us are covered,
according to custom, with flags ; so that one would think the
crew busy di-ying its linen, if they had any, and if the three

INTRODUCTION. 5

colours of France were not seen floating in the place, of
honom-.

The arroyo of the Poste is famous in Cochiu-China, in
which rice shoots up wondrously, but where there is a sad
want of the picturesque. We near Mytho, the chief place of
one of the three ancient provinces. This little town, situated
at the confluence of the arroyo of the Poste and of the Me-
kong, is of some importance ; but since the recent annexa-
tion of Vinh-long, the Chinese have partly deserted it, and
its growth is somewhat arrested. Amidst the houses that
press close to the quays, one notes the establishment of the
Sisters of the Holy Infancy, who could not fail in attracting
children if they could only inspire in them the desh-e to
be well harboui-ed fi-om the snares of this world. The citadel
is a vast enceinte consta-ucted by the Annamites, enclosing
nearly all the dwellings of Europeans at Mytho. That of the
naval commandant is an old cottage, carried there and set
up again at great expense at the time when the enthusiasm
of the first organisers of the conquest led them to admire
everything connected with our new subjects, without excep-
tion, and to copy everything without judgment jfrom them
— their institutions no less than their architecture.

Leaving Mytho, a superb landscape presents itself. The
Mekong, which will bear comparison with the noblest rivers
of Asia, stretches beyond the horizon, its waters fading in
the distance into the clouds, with which the burning sun,
raising a veil of transparent vapour, unites them. It was not
without emotion I felt myself floating on its stream. I was
about to ascend it, and to do my part in tracing it to its
sources ; and I involuntarily did so in advance in my thoughts,
picturing myself now bm-ning under a tropical sun, and next
frozen by the cold in the mountains of Thibet. I never realised
so vividly the idea of ancient mythology, which gave great
rivers a god or a genius for father. At the sight of the Me-
kong, the image of Camoens, who composed his paraphrase
of the Psalm, ' On the rivers of Babel,' on its banks, rose in
my mind ; and I shared the sadness of the great exile, tem-
pered by his manly hope, and felt myself strengtiiened by
the recollection thus suddenly evoked.

The Mekong runs at this part between the province of

6 TRA^^ELS IN INDO-CHINA.

Diiili-Tuong and the three pro\'inces which the treaty of
1862 have left to the Annamites. It is covered with a crowd
of boats, of which a great number carry the French flag. All,
indeed, have not the right to show it who do so, but they
hoist it fraudulently, because it covers their cargo. The
French Annamites are, in fact, free of the Oambodgian cus-
tom-duties in virtue of the ti-eaty of the protectorate. The
waters were very low, and the navigation difficult, even for
oui- small gunboat. I at last reached the place where the
Mekong divides into four arms, each like a great river. The
position which we hold on it is unique; a concession of
ground having been cleverly chosen on the tongue of land
which separates the gTcat stream descending from Laos fi-om
the arm which leads to the lake. The town of Pnom-Penh,
to which the king had just removed his capital, proclaims it-
self from a distance by a grand pyramid built on a height,
leading the traveller to hope that he is about to come upon
another Bangkok, reflecting in a river much nobler than the
Meinam monuments whose singularity is not wanting in
grandeur. But the illusion is short-lived, for Pnom-Penh is
only a crowd of petty wooden and bamboo houses, most of
them raised above the ground on posts, round wliich pigs
and chickens live in a familiarity which brings the inhabit-
ants inconvenience of more kinds than one. A winding
street runs fi-om one side to the other of the town, which is
pretty populous, and indeed the largest in Cambodgia. It
was once a place of 50,000 inhabitants ; but invasions, to
which it was peculiarly exposed fi-om its nearness to Hatien,
had reduced them to about 5000 or 6000. Since our pro-
tectorate, however, they have tripled. The natives huddle
together in it in the strangest way. There were about 100
of them lodged in the three houses assigned by the king as
the residence of the French officer who represents at his
court the governor of Cochin-China. The king, since he has
become our protege, thinks he must copy France in every-
thing, and has ordered a great many of his subjects to leave
their houses, that they may be rebuilt in a uniform style. He
wants his capital to be worthy of him, and expropriates as
he likes, by his royal caprice, without thinking of indemnity.
To set the example, he has bargained with a French work-

IXTRODUCTION. 7

man, who never iu liis life Avas an avcliitect, to build him a
brick vUla. As to the cost, it does not trouble him : the Cam-
bodgians have to bear that.

1 put off my presentation to the king to another day, and
went up the arm of the lake to Compon-Lnon, a large village
on the banks, about six kilometres from Houdon, the capital
which had just been abandoned. The French resident lived
there, with his gunboat moored close to his house, near
enough to the king to direct and watch him. At the time
of my visit the post was held by M. de Lagr^e, a captain of
a frigate. Seconding the views of Admiral de La Grandiere
with equal energy and ability, he planted and established
the French flag in Cambodgia. It was under his command I
ascended the great river whose mysteries he had for years
endeavoured in vain to solve, the information given by the
natives being as cloudy as the troubled waters of the Mekong.
When it was offered him to lift the veil, he accepted without
hesitation. I lived with him while waiting tUl the expedi-
tion was completely organised, and I owe to his thorough
knowledge of Cambodgia most of the details respecting it
which I shall copy from my notes. His house was of wood,
thatched; but he had been his own architect, and not a man-
darin could boast of having a more elegant, a smarter, or a
better-arranged mansion. At the side, and within the same
enclosm-e, an in&mary, a guard-house, a magazine, and vari-
ous offices completed the residence, which was made known
from a distance by a flag-staff from which floated our colom-s.
The erection of this small French establishment on soil con-
secrated by the presence of a magnificent banyan, the sacred
tree which commonly covers only bonzeries, pagodas, and
tombs, had marked the close of the struggle between the
two rival influences which sought to prevail in Cambodgia.
It will perhaps not be without interest to recall the prin-
cipal incidents of that long strife, which we often all but lost,
but fi-om which we at last came out victorious, — and this
the rather, since being now definitely established in these re-
gions, it is well to know both our friends and those who for
long wiU be our enemies.

When the emperor of Annam, by the treaty signed at
Hu4 in 1862, had recognised the rights of France over the

8 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CHIXA.

three provinces of Lower Cocliiii-Cliina, the first care of the
governor of our new colonj- was to secure the peace of our
frontiers. We had just cut in two the dominions of Tu Due,
who retained, on the south-east of our possessions, the pro-
vinces of Vinh-long, Angiang, and Hatien. One of the con-
ditions of the treaty being, in effect, the re-cession of Vinh-
long, we could not dream of extending our mle to the Gulf
of Siam, its natural limit, at once. The necessity of holding
these provinces, which we have since been led to occupy,
was forced on the author of the treaty of 1862 by the evid-
ence of events which were not long in showing themselves.
On the west and south-east we were bounded by the Annam-
ite territory, and by the sea ; on the north-east we touched
Cambodgia, a little kingdom then unknown. The few tra-
vellers who had visited it had told us nothing of its history.
Owing to the apparently impenetrable mystery which veiled
the meaning of inscriptions carved on the ^(valls of ruined
buildings, it was the general belief that the history of Cam-
bodgia would be found wi-itten, in the fashion of the Egyptian
annals, on the walls of temples — a belief now hardly pro-
bable. I have seen the cliief bonze of Cambodgia read, in the
grand pagoda of Angkor, some inscriptions chosen from
among those which, fi-om the place where they occurred,
seemed the most important. He easily understood the frag-
ments written in the ancient Cambodgian language while it
was stni free from any foreign alloy, and they were found to
refer only to pilgrimages, religious ceremonies, and confused
incidents of Buddhist legend, without offering anything of
historical interest. It is quite possible that some inscription
may one day be found which will throw light on the past of
this kingdom, but there is too good ground to fear that the
events of which it has been the theatre have never been
written. Unless some bonze convent preserve the record
of these problematic annals, we must give up the hope of
having anything like full light thrown on the times of the
glory and prosperity of Cambodgia. About the middle of the
sixteenth century Portuguese came to settle in the coimtry,
some traits of the race still remaining recognisable in their
descendants. They left Avi-itings, which would have been
a precious source of information on the history at least of

IXTRODUCTIOX. 9

that era, but the Siamese have destroj'ed them. These Por-
tuguese, on theh- arrival, asked the Idug for a small piece of
land, and he allowed them to take as much as they needed.
They humbly answered that they only wanted as much as
a buifalo-hide would cover, and then, repeatiug the trick of
Dido, they appropriated a considerable tract ; so that the
Cambodgians till this day say of a Christian that he belongs
to the ' village of the stretched-out skin.'

Some passages of Chinese books speak of Cambodgia as
one of the numerous kingdoms tributary to the Celestial
Empire. They even say that, till the seventh centmy of
our era, it was dependent on the province of Founan or
Tonkin, which was then Chinese. If they can be believed,
the country of Cambodgia, which they call Tchinla, began to
pay tribute, and to send ambassadors to the Son of Heaven,
in the year A.D. 616, under the reign of Yong-ti, of the
dynasty of Soui. One of the kings of Cambodgia, in the
year A. D. 625, shook off the Tonkin yoke, and even took
possession of that province itself, and of the kingdom of
Thsan-pan. This latter country is, perhaps, the ancient
Ciampa, visited by Marco Polo, and now included in the
Annamite province of Biatiuan, on which we touch by
ours of Bienhoa. Under the Ming, the armies of Tchinla
oven-an all Cochin-China. The emperor of China, in his
straggles vsdth Tonkin, did not disdain to ask the help of
the king of Tchinla, in 1016. Alliances seem then to have
been common between the grand empire and this powerful
kingdom. The Chinese traveller, whose naiTative is trans-
lated by Abel Remusat, relates that in his time the people of
Tchinla gave their countiy the name of Kamphoutchi, which
soon became Kamphoutche. The Cambodgians now call
themselves Khmer, and say, in speaking of their countiy,
Sroc Khmer — the country of the Khmer. Nevertheless, one
cannot b\it recognise in the Kambodia of the Portuguese,
of which we have made Cambodgia, an evident corruption
of the word Kamphoutche.

On the other hand, one reads in the Siamese annals that
the country of Sajam was long under the rule of the king of
Kamphoxa, and paid him tribute. Phra-Kuang, prince of
Sajam, fi-eed his country, which took then the name of

10 TRA"\^LS IX INDO-CHINA.

Tlia'i, which means 'free,' and modified the Cambodgian
alphabet, which in the end was employed exclusively in
religious writings. It would thus appear that at one time
Cambodgia included in its extended fi-ontiers most of Indo-
China. But I shall not spend time in retracing the dark
story of these ages. One thing is certain : the past of Cam-
bodgia must have been very brilliant. Enormous ruins bear
glorious -witness of this even to our day, and we found
ample and ready confirmation of it during our residence at
Laos. In a countiy tributary to Burmah, and close to the
frontier of China, an old bonze eagerly asked us about the
state of Cambodgia, which bore in his books the name of
Tepada-Lakhon, or 'Kingdom of Angels.' The Cambodgians
themselves know nothing either of then- origin or of their
history. Degenerate as they are in such matters, they
have no idea that their forefathers could have constructed
the monuments whose i-uins cover then- country. M. de
Lagrde, who continually interrogated them for years on
this point, ended by getting from a bonze who was reputed
to be very wise the name of the founder of Angcor ; but
when he came to compare it with others which he had
already collected, he found that it was simply a fancy word,
meaning in French ' Ai-chitect of Heaven.' We, om-selves, at
the time of our arrival in Cochin -China, were absolutely
ignorant alike of the past and the present condition of the
Cambodgians, and a first glance at the position of the king-
dom showed, in the character of its relations with its neigh-
bours, a serious obstacle to the legitimate extension of om-
influence in Indo-China.

II.

Cambodgia has at present a population of hardly a mil-
lion souls, including in this number forty thousand slaves,
and twenty thousand savages inhabiting the mountains,'
where they enjoy a kind of independence. This petty king-
dom, with fewer inhabitants than some French departments
could not, in itself, be either a som-ce of danger to us or
even become a cause of anxiety; but the law of nations as it
IS known m Em-ope, is very Httle known in the East and
Cambodgia touches Siam, a neighbour comparatively power-

INTRODUCTION. 11

fill, wliicla has filched provinces from it by force or cunning
in turn. The court of Bangkok and that of Hud alike
hankered after what remained of this dismembered king-
dom. In 1795 the king of Siam carried off from Cambodgia
the young Ang Eng, to protect him from the violence of his
revolted subjects, and caused him to be croAvned, some time
after, at Houdon. To reimbm-se himself for these sei-vices,
he took possession of the provinces of Battam-bang and
Angcor ; and the emperor of Annam, on his side, had not
been less active. The Siamese government ought, from
the first, to have rejoiced at om* intervention, "which put a
check to the political ambition of the Annamites, "who, in-
vited in 1810 by Ang-chaii to help him against the Siamese,
conquered the six provinces which we hold to-day under the
name of Lower Cochin- Cliina, and established themselves
even at Pnom-Penh, from which they governed the cotrntry
down to 1834. Not content with holding the unfortunate
Cambodgians under their yoke, they tried to impose on
them their customs. The historian of Gyadinh, in his triple
pride of conqueror, literary man, and Chinese, does not hesi-
tate to write that the emperor of Annam appointed to the
different Cambodgian mandarins, civil and military, a cos-
tume of ceremony. Thus, he continues, disappeared, day
by day, those barbarous manners which showed themselves
in their cutting their hau-, in wearing clothes not slit at the
sides, in covering their body round with a langouti, in eat-
ing with their fingers, and sitting squat on their heels.

The dislike, which has always divided the two races,
changed, on the one side, into an inextinguishable hatred,
on the other into a profound contempt. A Cochin-Chinese
law went so far as to punish with strangling any Annamite
who married a Cambodgian woman. The Annamite em-
peror's intention to conquer the whole kingdom was clear,
and the declaration to the contrary of the minister of state,
Phan-tan-gian, published by M. Aubaret, is of no weight in
the face of undoubted facts. 'To begin,' says he; 'we have
no intention to take possession of this country ; we wish,
like heaven, to leave men to live in peace. No, we do not
wish the destniction of this little kingdom, as others do,
who have hearts full of bitterness ;' — ^that is, the Siamese,

12 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

who, not content with the two provinces taken from Aug
Eng, — under the pretext of upholding the interests of Ong-
duong, the legitimate king, advanced to drive out the An-
namites. The struggle between the two rivals lasted more
than ten years. Whichever side won the victory, Cam-
bodgiawas fated to disappear; but the peace was signed,
each retaining what he held before the war, and the parti-
tion was indefinitely postponed. Ong-duong agreed to pay
a yearly tribute to his two neighbom-s ; and at this price the
Siamese set him on the throne of Cambodgia, though not
•\\athout requiring him to leave his children at Bangkok, to
receive an education worthy of their birth. In reality, the
Siamese king wanted to have hostages for the present, and
to prepare instruments for his purposes in the future.

On the death of his father, Norodom mounted the throne,
thanks to his interested protector. Si-vata, one of his bro-
thers, rebelled on the instant, claiming the crown, because
he was the son of a king who had been crowned, while
Norodom, the elder, had been born before his father Ong-
duong had assumed the diadem in the solemn ceremony, re-
garded, according to Cambodgian rites, as specially import-
ant. An uncle of the pidnces, Senong Soo, supported the
cause of Si-vata, stirred up the province of Baphnum, which
was next Pnom-Penh, and made Norodom flee to Bangkok
without attempting resistance. In the month of February
1862 he was led back to his states by the soldiers of the
king of Siam, and reestablished at Houdon, on the condition
that he would inaugurate his reign by ceding the provinces
of Compong-soai and Pursat, as his father had begun his by
letting himself be plundered, for the benefit of Laos, of two
provinces bordei-ing that country, over a part of which Siam
exercised absolute sovereignty. In haste to possess the
power, Norodom subscribed everything, so that the king of
Siam might well be proud of his pupil. At Bangkok his
promise was duly recorded, with the assurance, however,
that its performance would not be insisted upon if the king
of Cambodgia showed himself docile to the coimsels of his
fi-iends. Norodom Avas only too well inclined for the part
of vassal-kiag which they washed to make him play. The
arrival of the French in Cochin-China finally took from the

/

IXTRODUCTIOX. 13

Annamites, wholly engrossed with defending themselves,
all idea of conquest ; and the king of Siam set himself to
the task of gaining over the rest of a nation, of which he
had, as it were, kneaded the king to his liking with his
own hands.

Things stood thus when Saigon was taken; and this
short statement of them will explain the reason which forced
us to intervene, and how for a time there were difficulties
which stood in our way. It was a critical moment. The
English, though they cannot complain of being straitened
for want of room in India, saw then- designs thwarted by
OTir presence in the empire of Annam. The fear they in-
spu-ed at the court of Siam had for long kept it fi-om grant-
ing European nations the right to have a consul at Bangkok.
They hold at this time a piece of ground there, and enjoy
considerable influence in the counsels of the Siamese govern-
ment. They would have reckoned it a gTcat stroke if they
could have got the king Phra-maha-mongkut, who was very
much inclined to follow theii- wishes, to annex Cambodgia
without any more ado. It is too well known what any
tenderness shown by England to her clients commonly hides,
not to doubt the disinterestedness affected in her expression
of so much solicitude for Siam. Her amazing success in the
past justifies all her di-eams for the future; and she was
annoyed to find in her way rivals she had thought she had
for ever driven away from Asia. From Moulmein she already
watches Bangkok ; and not being able herself to take Cam-
bodgia, she was willing to emich a friend of whom she ex-
pects to be heir. Meanwhile she plotted to secm-e our being
surrounded by enemies in our new establishment. Still
more : the kingdom of Cambodgia commands the lower val-
ley of the Mekong ; a battery placed on the custom-house
point would close the four branches of that river to trade ;
and we could not pernait the prosperity of our colony of
Saigon, in whose port the products of the whole interior
were one day to be gathered, to depend absolutely on a
foreign nation, which was under influences certain to make
it, as a rule, hostile to us. These considerations were de-
cisive, and the independence of Cambodgia was soon seen
to be an essential condition to the development, or almost

14 TRAVELS IX INDO-CHINA.

tlie existence, of French Cocliin-Cliina. But iu the weak
state of the kingdom this was imiaossible, except by a pro-
tectorate. The rights of French suzerainty substituted for
those of Tu Due, being from the fii-st at least equal to those
of Siam, -we could proclaim these at once annulled by a fair
compensation. A treaty would create new and exclusive
lights for us, and Siam would be finally put aside. It was
to this end all the efforts of the French officers, who had
become diplomatists, were henceforth tm-ned.

A Cambodgian noble, Senong-soo, the uncle of King No-
rodom, haviag sought a refuge on our territory, to escape
the Siamese, the prime-minister of Siam at once demanded
his extradition fr'om Admiral Bonard, who, however, refused
to permit it. This was of itself enough to show the com-t
of Bangkok om- intentions with regard to Cambodgia, and,
in some degree, was a beginning of hostilities. To induce
Norodom to treat with us, it was important to mark the
difference of our idea of a protectorate from the oppressive
way in which the king of Siam had employed his humiliat-
ing suzerainty. It was no question vdth us of homage or
service; we had only one end to secm-e — ^the autonomy of
Cambodgia ; and all our negotiations were directed to this
object. The king, moreover, had for long wished some over-
ture from us ; for he knew that Siam would abate its exac-
tions as soon as it saw it had to reckon with us. For the
same reasons, this latter power di'eaded a French interven-
tion, and the Siamese general, Phnea-rat, who lodged at the
gates of the royal palace, redoubled his vigilance. He de-
voted himself to his task of watching and guiding a weak
conscience; and no scrupulous duenna ever took greater
pains to guard her precious trust. The king never spoke
a word that was not repeated ; never made a movement that
was not watched ; and even the letters he had to write to
the French commandant of one of the frontier circles com-
menced with the words, ' The king and the Siamese general.'
It was necessary to avoid, in the opening of our relations
with the court of Houdon, anything startling ; to act Avith
prudence ; to fi-ee the king, without causing a shock, from a
subjection as incompatible with his own dignity as ■s\ith our
interests. Under various pretests om- vessels entered the

IXTRODUCTIOX. 15

Jlekong. The officers took care not to stay long at anj- one
place, that they might not excite premature resistance ; but
they got, little by little, into direct relations -with the long.
Their instructious forbad their recognising in any Tcay the
Siamese tutelage, or suffering any third party to come be-
tween them and his Cambodgian majesty. The advice-boat
Gyadinh was the first French vessel appointed by Admiral
de La Grandiere to cruise in the waters of Cambodgia. The
king received its captain, M. de Lagree, with cordiality, and
allowed him pemussion, there and then, to establish a
coaling-station, on the spot which Tve yet hold, opposite
Pnom-Penh. He even extended his courtesy so far as to
come without delay on board the Gyadinh ; though it is true
he was accompanied by the Siamese, — and he expressed
a wish to visit the new governor of Cochin-China ; but this
was only the caprice of a curious child, and was at once
given up on his tiitor showing him the political significance
of such an act.

In proportion as the representative of the court of Bang-
kok became alarmed, and caught a glimpse of the approach-
ing emancipation of his pupil, he became more exacting.
Though he was not permitted to be present at any audience
granted to the French, he so arranged as not to lose a word
of what was said. He never showed himself in public ex-
cept in sumptuous robes, which quite eclipsed those of the
king. He assumed the au-s of a master in everythiug ; and
Ms soldiers, copying the ways of their chief, plundered the
market daily. This conduct, though very obnoxious to the
people, degraded as they were, failed to excite- a revolution
in favom- of Phra-keo-fea,^ younger brother of the king,
whose hatred of the Siamese gave him a kind of popularity,
bur presence alone hiadered it; and the Siamese general,
seeing this, and being no longer able to bear the sight of
the evident progress of our influence, seized the occasion to
annoimce that he must return for new orders, and would
leave his brother to hold his post beside the king. He
judged it advisable, moreover, to take the author of an ia-
sm-rection which threatened to distm-b the peace of a state

2 Since imrrisoned at Saigon. The revolt of 186C, excited by Pou-
qnambo, was sanctioned by Ms name.

16 TRAVELS IN IXDO-GHIXA.

tributaiy to Siam to Bangkok, ia the hope that a year passed
in a bonze monastery, and in bonze dress, might inspire the
young prince with better sentiments. It was thus he masked
his retreat. As to us, we had done a service wliich helped
on our protectorate. The moment was favourable to secure
its formal recognition, without at once drawing attention to
all that it implied.

Admiral de La Grandiere, taking advantage of these cir-
cumstances, now appeared on the field at Houdon. The
king, perhaps a little surprised, and hardly perhaps compre-
hending the meaning of the word protectorate, which is as
hard to define in Cambodgian as in French, readily consented
to set his seal to a treaty of nineteen articles, in which the
protectorate of France over Cambodgia, solemnly proclaimed,
was surrounded by aU the guarantees we wished to obtain.
It was understood that, until it was ratified by the Emperor
of the French, the convention had only a conditional force.
We had succeeded in getting the king to do an act of free
sovereignty; and we took away with us an agreement which
we could not help thinking a first success. But hardly had
the news reached Siam before it raised a storm, the echo of
which ahnost frightened our new protege into forgetting his
word, and caused us serious embarrassments.

The Kalahom — the prime-minister of the king of Siam —
told Commandant Forbin, our envoy to Bangkok on the
death of the French consul, distinctly, that the king of
Cambodgia was a mere viceroy vassal of Siam, who had no
right to treat with us, and that his affiairs could be decided
only at Bangkok ; then, becoming calmer, he gave it very
clearly to be understood that his master would be disposed
to divide with us what remained of the old Cambodgiaii
kingdom. His assertions were definite, and the answer^
needed to be categorical also. It was therefore officiallyi
communicated to the Kalahom that this pretended vassalagej
of the king of Cambodgia had never been recognised by
France, which was resolved to have nothing to do with
any third party, in treaty with him. They raised an argu- "
ment against us from M. de Montigny's mission in 1855,,
trying to prove that he had always acknowledged the vas- '
salage of Cambodgia in his conferences with the Siamese /

INTRODUCTION. 17

government. This was entirely untrue ; and the mere state-
ment of the facts suffices to refute it. It will require only a
short digression, but its exposure will show the tricks to
which Siamese policy resorted to gain its ends.

M. de Montigny having announced his intention of mak-
ing a commercial treaty with Cambodgia, so far from any
opposition being offered, he was even ad\'ised to take pos-
session in the name of France of the island of Phu-Quoc,
lying over against the Cambodgian port of Compot, in the
gulf of Siam, and peopled by Annamites. The Siamese states-
men evidently sought in. this way to bring on a dispute, by
which they might profit, between France and Annam. On
the one hand, the king of Siam wrote to M. Miche, now bishop
of Saigon, begging him to put the knowledge of the coun-
try and of the language he had acquired at the service of
M. de Montigny ; on the other, he caused the king of Cam-
bodgia to be secretly told, that if he were unfortunate
enough to treat with the French, he would be sorry for it.
The king, Ong - duong, on the news of the arrival of the
French ambassador, had ordered the road between Houdon
and Compot to be repaired, and set himself to give M. de
Montigny a magnificent reception; but the despatch fi-om
Bangkok fairly terrified him. When he farther learned that
the same vessel which brought the ambassador bore also an
agent : of the king of Siam, his alarm knew no limits ; he
no longer thought of going to Compot to the meeting he
had himself appointed, and instantly began his annual visit
to the pagodas, in order that M. de Montigny might not
find him in hie capital, if he came there after him.

Since it was thus necessary in 1855 to use threats to
keep Ong-duong from treating with us, it is clear that his
right to do so was acknowledged. Why should his suc-
cessor be affirmed to have lost a right which belonged to
his father ? After having for long been forced to submit to
Siamese interference in his affairs, the king of Cambodgia,
by a convention freely gi-anted us, had created rights and
duties, against which the protests of the Siamese govern-
ment were henceforth of no weight.

The genei-al, Phnea-rat, who took Phrakeo-fea to Bang-
l^ok, had gained such an ascendancy over the king, that we

18 TRAVELS IN INBO-CHINA.

should probably have hardly succeeded so easily had he re-
mained at Houdon. Fortunately he left only his brother
behind him, a mandarin of little influence ; who, keeping by
his instructions, and maintaining a careless surveillance from
a distance, neither foresaw nor prevented anything. "When
he learned that the convention was signed, he felt hm-t in
his pride as a Siamese, and in his aviour propre as a diplo-
matist ; became violent, like all timid persons suddenly
waked from their torpor, and threatened Norodom with the
anger of his master, the terrible consequences of which the
French would be unable to avert. He invited him, besides,
to add a letter of regrets and excuses to his own despatch
to Bangkok, in which he broke to the Kalahom the news of
the grave events which had just happened. Norodom, quite
distracted, had the weakness to consent. He said that he
confessed his fault ; that he had no right to sign without
consulting the king, of Siam ; but that he had been taken by
surprise, and had not tm-ned over the matter long enough
to reflect on the consequences of an act of which he now,
too late, repented. Those who knew the king saw that
there was quite as much calculation as fear in his language.
His letter might be taken as an index of the policy he in-
tended to follow. He wished to appear to yield to a pressure
on our part, not doubting that Siam would give way to our
wish. Knowing that we had no design on his territory, and
thoroughly aware of the value we set on the independence
of his kingdom, he was determined to leave us to manage
matters ; to raise obstacles, as necessity might require, which
he knew we were strong enough to surmount, that he might
get himself out of his difficulty ; to hold himself ready, in a
word, to enjoy the liberty which we should give him, without
Siam being able, whatever happened, to throw on him the
whole responsibility.

The future had, it must be granted, some dark points
which justified the uneasiness of Norodom. The Annamite
ambassador was at that time in Paris ; his mission was no
secret to any one in Cochin -China, and it was presently
made known in Cambodgia. The Siamese spoke of the ap-
proaching evacuation by the French as certain ; and an agent
of Tu Due, still more confident, came to demand at Houdon

INTRODUCTION'. 19

the triennial tribute. It was certainly not probable that
Phan-tan-gian ehould succeed in the negotiations ; never-
theless, when one knows the facts, and the hesitation, which
was natui-al enough, before France came to a final decision,
one is led to find in the clear-sightedness of the king a kind
of excuse for the feebleness of his conduct. Norodom was,
besides, the more troubled, from not taking into account the
interval necessary for commtinication with France, and be-
cause Bangkok, confident in the resources of its diplomacy,
alleged that the treaty would not be confii-med by Napo-
leon III.

Meanwhile the anger of the king of Siam, who had just
heard of the events in Cambodgia, suddenly passed off; for he
thought he had discovered in the letter of Norodom a way
to draw down a terrible revenge on us, which he left to his
faithful Phnea-ra-t to carry oiit. That clever agent, whose
sudden departure had so greatly aided our success, was or-
dered to get ready to return to Houdon. He took with him
a draft of a treaty, which he was told to get the king of
Cambodgia to sign at any cost ; the means to be used being
left to him, as a man, skilful, and fuH of resources and energy.
This treaty had for its end to define and emphasise more than
hitherto the vassalage of Norodom, who was called in it the
' viceroy,' and mere ' governor of Cambodgia.' The king of
Siam had taken the trouble to write the preamble of this
diplomatic missive with his own hand. He wished, he said,
to let all men know that Cambodgia is a state tributary to
the kingdom of Siam, owing it homage, and for long under
its protection. The right was granted him by article 6, in
spite of an illusory restriction, to name the governors of
Cambodgia henceforward at his pleasure ; and the 7th article,
in the same way, reserved to the com-t of Bangkok the right
to nominate governors for the Cambodgian provinces. As
to the French treaty, no notice was taken of it ; it was not
thought worth discussing, and indeed was not recognised as
in existence. Phnea-rat, arriving at Houdon unexpectedly,
acted with promptitude, ability, and vigoiu-. Without giving
Norodom time to collect himself, he told hira that the king
of Siam, though profoundly irritated at his conduct, assented
to his becoming a subject-of France; for his treaty mth us

20 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

meant nothing less — the consuls of other nations at Bangkok
had made no secret of saying so ; and they saw an incon-
testable proof of this subjection in the clause which shut out
from Cambodgia the representatives of all other European
powers. It was easy to divine the quarter from which m-
sinuations of this kind came. The king of Siam, continued
Phnea-rat, had no intention of offering any opposition.
Only Norodom, in thus yielding up his sovereignty and
betraying his people, was, by the very fact, unworthy of the
throne, and Si-vata, till then detained at Bangkok, would be
set at liberty. The crown of the kings of Cambodgia was
kept at the capital of Siam ; it would remain there, and even
if he retained his throne, he would never be a crowned king.
In addition, his Siamese majesty judged that the time had
come to accept the two proviaces of Compong-soai and
Pm-sat, so graciously offered him at the beginning of Noro-
dom's reign. Phnea-rat added that the wishes of his master
were strictly within the limits of justice and moderation,
and did not shrink from saying that they would be imposed
on France itself by force in a war, in which the Siamese govern-
ment had been assured of powerful allies. To turn aside so
many perils there was a last resom-ce : Norodom had but to
sign a secret treaty, which was, in reality, only a precaution
taken against the French. The king of Siam would then
condescend to come personally to Compot, where Norodom
was to meet him, and all his faults would be forgiven.
These manoeuvres were completely successful, for Phnea-rat
bore away from the palace the treaty signed by the king,
before M. de Lagree knew of his being in Houdon. This was
in November 1863; the ratifications were sent to Siam on
the 22d of the January following ; and it was not till the
month of August 1864 that we even heard of its existence,
from an English journal of Singapore, which published the
treaty at full length.

The artful Siamese diplomat knew well the interest he
had in misleading France as to the aim and the true result
of his mission. The an-ival of a gi-eat mandarin at Hou-
don from the com-t of Bangkok awakened M. de Lagr^e's
suspicions, for his watchful mind was beginning to get
acquainted with the tricks of Eastern diplomacy. Thia'

INTRODUCTION. 21

difficulty had no way embarrassed Plinea-rat ; he had a pre-
text ready. Determined to avoid any meeting with the
representative of France, who would not readily have j'ielded
to this change in his designs, he caused a letter to be sent
by the king of Siam to M. Miche, telling him that Norodom
was to be crowned in a fortnight. Feigning to be taken all
at once with a holy zeal for the Catholic religion, and with
a profound respect for the venerable head of the Cambodgian
Chi'istians, he came to see him at Pinhalu. He had an
escort of two hundred guards, and a suite of a dozen ele-
phants in scarlet housings worked with gold, one of them,
the most richly caparisoned, bearing himself. ^Vhat must
have been the astonishment of the humble missionary bi-
shop at seeing the ambassador of the king of Siam coming
to his house in such pomp, and at his delivering him a letter
from his sovereign ! France having for long been known in
these countries only by the missionary priests, Phnea-rat
affected to believe that the bishop was its official represen-
tative, and passed contemptuously before M. de Lagr^e's door
without ever stopping. As to M. Lliche, a stranger to poH-
tics by taste as well as by his functions, he took for granted
that what he was told was really intended as it was spoken,
and hastened to inform M. de Lagr^e of the approaching
coronation. Thus the treaty was made, and no one even
suspected its existence : Phnea-rat had succeeded.

Meanwhile the report quickly spread to Cambodgia, that
the king of Siam had determined to send to its legitimate
possessor the ancient crown of the old Cambodgian princes,
but that he would himself put it on the head of Norodom,
when he conferred on him, on the day it might please him
to fix, a solemn investiture, which should definitely make
him his vassal. Public opinion gave the ceremony this
meaning in advance, and every one asked himself cmiously
what we should do. It became urgent to enlighten the
king, and to restore his confidence in us, which seemed. very
much shaken. M. de Lagr^e did not hesitate to open his
eyes on a state of things most annoying to France, and full
of peril to himself and Norodom thanked him with great
heartiness for his advice. If one could have believed him, it
was the first time he saw clearly whither the king of Siam

22 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

-wished to lead him. The court of Bangkok would consider
itself sovereign of Cambodgia after the coronation, but he
was resolved to disappoint their calculations. He wished
to crown himself at Houdon, before his people, and he ex-
pressed a desire to see the governor of Cochin-China there,
to assist at the ceremony. He loudly asserted that the day
had not been fixed, and that he could easily find pretexts to
delay it till the arrival of the answer expected from Paris
about the protectorate treaty. ' Siam,' he said continually,
' has become kind to me.' Such a change, of which it was
impossible for us to divine the causes, might well surprise
us. The king of Siam had announced by a solemn and
special message that the coronation would take place in a
fortnight ; and now, on the other side, we learned that the
day was not fixed for it! They were clearly trifling with
us at Bangkok. M. de Lagr^e concealed his uneasiness. By
his firankness and courtesy he exercised a strong personal
influence on Norodom, who always yielded to him, though
he all the time thought himself his own master. He had the
imprudence to show his fi-iendliness to the French officers
publicly, with imusual demonstrativeness. His visits to M.
de Lagr^e became more fi-equent; he rejoiced at a truce,
which he was as anxious to prolong as a scholar his holi-
days. Phnea-rat, who could not but notice this change in
the king's mood, knew by experience how easily he was led,
and beheved the moment come to get him to enter into a
fresh engagement Avith Siam.

It will be remembered that, at the time of the secret
treaty, the king of Siam had promised to visit the Cam-
bodgian port of Compot, to meet Norodom there. Phnea-
rat annoimced that his master was about to leave his capital,
and would come with his hands full of pardons. In order,
however, not to embitter the joy of the king at the flattering
news of this august visit, by fresh embarrassments, Phnea-
rat subscribed at once to all the demands of the French,
stipulating only that Norodom should agree to di-ink the
water of the oath in presence of the king of Siam, which is
the mode in which they pledge obedience and fidelity. He
then tried once more to get Norodom to declare himself a
subject of Siam, and merely the governor of Cambodgia.

INTRODUCTION. 23

While this was going on, some drunken French sailors
caused some disturbance in the town, and even in the house
of the king's mother. The Siamese mandarin made a great
deal of this, exaggerating it extremely, and ended by getting
a promise from the terrified Norodom to come to Compot.
He hastened to spread the news, to speak of the water of
the oath, and omitted nothing that could compromise the
king. Satisfied with his success in this, he forthwith went
off from Houdon, leaving M. de Lagr^e thoroughly puzzled
and Norodom more embarrassed than ever, neither daring to
speak nor to be silent, bound on both hands by treaties, and
reduced to play a passive part between two adversaries,
who were each too strong for him, and with each of whom,
in turn, he had signed contradictory engagements. <"

A few days after the Siamese had left, Norodom took
advantage of his liberty to come on board the Gyadinh.
He tried to be frank, but his courage could not get beyond
half-confidences. ' I know Siam better than any one,' said
he to the officers of the vessel; 'they fear you there, but
are far enough from liking you. Don't believe what they
say at the coiirt of Bangkok about dislike of the English.
They favour them as much as they are favoured by them.
More than a year ago, the Siamese invited me to make
a treaty with England ; and they have lately made fi'esh
overtures about it to me. The king of Siam wants me
at Compot only to try to bring me under i-eligious influ-
ence. It was he who made a bonze of me at Bangkok ^
I am his godson in religion, and it is a strong tie in our twa
countries. If he delay coming to Compot, the season will
hinder me from making the voyage, and I shoidd be glad of"-
it ; for, in reality, I have no love for him. When he wants'
to get a promise fi-om me, an act, or, above all, a signature,
I refuse, on the ground that I am imder you.' He had not
always had strength of mind to resist ; and this last phrase
hid a biting remorse. His words in other respects gave a
clear enough view of how matters stood ; and his calcula-
tions, which were more prudent than dignified, became daily
more evident.

At last, on the 11th of January 1864, it was announced
that a Siamese steamer had just anchored at Compot, and

24 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

the king immediately gave orders for his departure. This
was a check to our diplomat; and M. de Lagr^e tried to
find a way of stopping him, on learning, not without sur-
prise, that instead of the king of Siam, only a simple man-
darin, with a letter from him for Norodom, had come. Under
some pretext the king excused himself from assisting in
the coronation, or even coming to Compot. He sent word,
however, that Phnea-rat would bring the famous crown
shortly.

The king of Siam is the object of a similar religious
veneration in the Buddhist part of Indo-China as the Sultan
at Constantinople is to the Mussulman. The prospect of a
visit from so great a personage flattered Norodom beyond
measure ; and this consideration, which was made use of to
hasten the concluding of the secret treaty, was most likely
not vsdthout its influence in getting it signed. This end
once gained, the king of Siam soon lost all desire to come
to Compot, and Phnea-rat knew this well when he got Noro-
dom to promise to go to drink the oath-water ; but he cared
little at bottom whether the ceremony came off or not : every
one knew that the king of Cambodgia had agreed to it, and
that was enough.

Whilst M. de Lagrde saw in the sweetness and modera-
tion of the court of Siam only a motive for keeping more
carefully on his guard than ever, Norodom, forgetting his
dignity, could hardly contain his joy. They might be treat-
ing him slightingly, but they were going to give him up his
crown. He thought only on that ; he spoke only of that.
He ordered that nothing should be wanting to give splen-
dour to the feasts, and the preparations began. The bonzes
having been consulted, gave themselves up to pious medi-
tation, and at last announced that the 3d of February was
a day propitious and fixed by heaven. The governor of
Cochin-China was invited to Houdon, or at least to send a
representative, who would be received with all usual hon-
ours, and would occupy a position not less honourable than
that of the Siamese envoy, whoever he might be. Every-
thing was arranged in advance. The king showed his joy
at being about to play the first part in an imposing cere-
mony. He waited impatiently for the French, before whom

INTRODUCTION. 25

especially he Avislied to show himself iii the ancient state-
dress of the old kings of Cambodgia, long since disused.

The season favourable for religious ceremonies had now
begun. The head of the staff of the governor of Cochin-
China had arrived at Houdon: nothing more was wanting
for the coronation but the crown. Couriers ran full speed to
and from Compot ; the bonzes redoubled their prayers; the
king, greatly excited, lavished orders and counter-orders.
Patience held out as long as it could ; but at last there was
nothing for it but to yield to evidence. Siam had merely
wished to put Norodom in a false position with us, and to
draw on ourselves an unbearable ridicule. Our prot^g^ got
out of his difficulty cleverly. He decided that, from regard
for France, the fetes should still take place, with no other
omission than the w^ant of the insignia necessitated. We
could not have asked more. There could be no doubt of the
good faith of the king, who had gathered round him the
governors of the provinces. It was a good opportunity to
bring under the eyes of these dignitaries the strange conduct
of the Siamese government ; and it was easy, by awakening
their amour propre, to turn aside on the court of Bangkok,
already disliked, the blow it intended for us.

The fStes did take place, and also the ceremony of svett-
rachat, or raising the parasol, which consists in setting over
the throne a parasol of five stages, and is almost as neces-
sary to complete a coronation as the crowning itself. Much
elated at seeing this quintuple diadem for the first time over
his head, Norodom cried out in a transport of gratitude and
happiness, ' I look on the emperor of France as my father,
and on the admiral as my brother !' He might have added
that Siam insisted on being his mother — a mother exacting
and crafty, who had not given up the hopes of supplanting
the males of the family. The next day Norodom came on
board the Mitraille in the uniform of an officer of marines, — of
very fine cloth covered with embroidery. He wore, besides, ''
white pantaloons, a heavy cap ornamented by a great deal
of braiding, a gilded sword-belt, a sabre with an ivory handle,
of European shape ; but, as a protest against the exactions
of etiquette which imprisoned him in such a make-up, he
wore slippers, an extraordinary shirt strewn with rose-flowers.

^

26 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

and a necktie carelessly tied. The king was in a very merry
mood, and was pleasant even with the Siamese. ' Get ready
the rice,' said he to his mandarins squatted round him,
accordiag to custom; 'the Siamese have arrived, and you
know they have come without any provisions.' The court
applauded the mirth of its master : Norodom did not mean
to speak so plainly.

Our great enemy, Phnea-rat, who had in reality been
charged to bring the crown, landed at Compot at the same
time as the French mission itself reached Houdon. The
Siamese dignitary learned that several officers who had come
from Saigon, only for the purpose of adding to the Mat of
the ceremony by their presence, gave it quite a French cha-
racter. This was so intolerable to him, that he took upon
himself to send back the crown to Bangkok, and stopped on
the way to Houdon, in order not to reach that town till after
the departm-e of M. Desmoulin, chief of the staff to Admiral
de La Grandi^re. He, now, conceived, on the instant, a new
and bold plan, by which he hoped to add a defeat to the
mystification he had already succeeded in giving us. The
moment the French naval officers left Houdon by one gate,
a little put-out by their mishap, the Siamese agent entered
by the other. He intended to take away the king to Bang-
kok, and crown bim there, without consulting with us. It
was a daring scheme, and he set himself to it with his
usual ardour.

Attacking first the mandarins who were the ordinary
advisers of Norodom, he showed them the advantages they
and their master would reap from a voyage to Bangkok,
and the serious risks they ran if they displeased the king
of Siam. He knew how to use correspondents he had in
some of the provinces — notably in those of Compong-soai
and Pursat, whose governors were creatures of the court of
Bangkok, and had protested against the French alliance —
so as to stir up the population. It will be remembered that,
but for our intervention, these two provinces were about to
share the fate of Angcor and Battam-bang, and be annexed
to the kingdom of Siam. Seeking the presence of the king
himself presently, he reminded him of his treaty and his pro-
mises, which he eould show, and thus make trouble between

INTRODUCTION. 27

him and us. He terrified him about the insurrection in the
southern provinces, which demanded separation from Cam-
bodgia; asserted roundly that the French were deceiving
him shamefully; that their emperor had refused to ratify
the treaty, and, moreover, that the English were determined
at any cost to sustain the Siamese policy. In short, he
ended by getting Norodom to consent, and even worked him
up to the necessary pitch of courage for breaking the matter
to us himself. The preparations for departure were kept
secret till the arrival of some Siamese vessels at Compot,
when the news broke like a thunder-clap on M. de Lagr^e.
He found the king, for the first time, in a fixed and invincible
resolution. Norodom was unwilling to lose his crown ; and
since they wrould give it him only at Bangkok, he would go
there to get it. Besides, the ratification of the treaty had
not arrived ; and this delay, which he was determined not
to understand, justified all his suspicions and uneasiness.
He announced that he would leave on the 3d of March ; and
on that day left his capital, intrusting the government of
Cambodgia to his ministers. The agitation in Pursat and
Compong-soai ceased as by magic.

We were thus about to be beaten in our secret struggle
with the court of Bangkok, which had lasted since the treaty
of August 1863. It was hard to submit. WhenM. de Lagr^e
learned by public report the arguments that had led the king
to consent to set out, he lost no time in exposing them. His
majesty had started : it was a critical moment. M. de Lagr^e
acted on one of those sudden inspirations which redeem
causes seemingly lost. The presence of a small Siamese gar-
rison in the capital of Cambodgia authorised us to land some
soldiers. The authorities readily consented to our doing so,
and our men were lodged near enough the Siamese troops to
watch all their movements. The French flag was raised over
the barracks of the detachment of infantry, and saluted with
twenty-one guns. It was this which retrieved our fortunes.

The king was not far on the way to Compot. Terrified
at the sound of artillery, and thinking we were about to
profit by his absence to make otirselves masters of Cam-
bodgia, he at once called a halt ; then came back part of the
way. Phnea-rat himself hesitated. It was a doubtful success

28 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

to have the king, and to lose the kingdom. He caused a
letter to be written by Norodom to excite the French
resident, who till then had lived on a footing of respectful
courtesy mth him, to use threats which he intended to
urge against us before the assembled consuls : adopting in
this phrase, one often employed by the Siamese plenipo-
tentiary. The trap was badly set, and it was Phnea-rat who
was caught in it. Without disputing the king's right to go
to Bangkok, M. de Lagr^e, in his answer, explained how the
voyage, while distasteful to France, would compromise his
own interests ; and he reminded him especially of the bitter
complaints the ambition of Siam had so often drawn from
him, and of the behaviour conamonly shown by the repre-
sentative of that court at Bangkok. The Siamese general
read before Norodom the letter of M. de Lagr^e. Great was
the rage of the one and the confusion of the other at the
recital of the long string of troubles told us by Norodom's
own lips as suffered from Siam. It was sought to drive us
to violent language, and we had proof that our adversary
owed his success only to his threats. Phnea-rat almost went
into a fit with rage ; then was abashed, and finally lost his
self-control altogether. Usually as prompt to execute as to
form a design, all at once he lost even the power to give a
command. Our revenge began. Halted some leagues from
his capital, Norodom announced one day that he had decided
to go to Bangkok, and, the next, let it be known that he
thought of returning to Houdon. After a time the mandarins
got afraid of compromising themselves ; regretted aloud the
advice they had given their master. The Siamese saw all
his prestige disappear ; a moment's indecision had ruined all
his clever manoeuvres.

For several centuries Siam had favoured or frowned on
Cambodgia as its own interests led it, always making its
power sensibly felt. As to us, we were friends of yesterday,
and had never given more than advice. However honour-
able this might be, it had the inconvenience of exciting the
mistrust of om- new prot^g4 the king Norodom, who could not
see through it. By the simple political and social theories
of these half-barbarous nations — theories consecrated by uni-
versal application — force is the best of all arguments. If

INTRODUCTION. 29

it was true that we were not afraid of the redoubtable power
of the king of Siam, why eo much talking? why not tell him
our pleasure without so much circumlocution? why not re-
quii-e the immediate restoration of the crown? Norodom
always came back to this. We had shown moderation, and
he accused us of fear. Time passed, moreover, without bring-
ing us the ratification of the treaty with France. Siam fought
against it at Paris, and continued to spread lying reports of
her success. TNTiat would become of the unhappy monarch,
if, by some impossibility, the Siamese negotiators carried
their point? His levity could not keep him from feeling
this.

Meanwhile, rebels, availing themselves of all this, had
risen in earnest in the south-west, and had massacred the
minister of war who had been sent to them. This insurrec-
tion gave the king an honourable pretext for returning to
his capital, which he did on the evening of the 17th March,
followed closely by Phnea-rat, beaten, furious, confused, but
yet not hopeless, for he began at once to do his utmost to
get our soldiers sent away. But he was unsuccessfiil. As to
Norodom, not daring to refuse anything to the irritated
general, whose htunour became more tmbearable than ever
after this last check, he tried to drag from M. de Lagr^e
a declaration in writing that Phnea-rat had systematically
used coercion in his intercourse with him. It is not worth
while to say what came of a proposal like this, the knavery
of which almost loses its name, and turns half lovable for its
ncavetd.

Our position was now very different from the half despair
in which we had been a fortnight before. The game, how-
ever, was not yet gained, as long as Phnea-rat remained at
Houdon, free to see the king all the time, and able to neu-
tralise our influence by his own. Happily, the ratification
of the treaty arrived at last, in the nick of time. The news
delighted the king. He burned with desire, he said, to see
the signature and the seal of the emperor of the French.
Phnea-rat tried hard to make him believe that the whole
thing had been concocted at Saigon; but the king, full of the
prospect of a new ceremony, paid no attention to the un-
principled insinuations of the poor old despairing general,

30 TRA\TELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

who had the mortification of seeing our treaty carried with
great pomp to the palace. The exchange of ratifications
was conducted with great solemnity. The chief of the staff
of Admiral de La Grandifere, who had come once more to
Houdon, asked the pleasm-e of an interview ; but he unwisely
declined it. Every one concluded from this that he was
afraid of a public explanation of the facts, and that he thus
felt himself not without ground of reproach. He decided at
last to let us be masters of the field, and left Houdon on the
25th April, receiving the post of minister of justice in Siam,
as the reward of his services and the consolation of his de-
feat. The Siamese flag was finally lowered in Cambodgia,
and there was no longer any reason to delay the departure
of the small French garrison, which might by its presence
have uritated the people.

When the king of Siam saw his favourite mandarin re-
turn, the man on whom he had placed all his hopes, he felt
that, the main point being lost, it was not worth while fight-
ing over details. He was wise enough to yield with a good
grace, and removed all hindrances to the coronation by re-
storing the crown. On the 26th May the Ondine left Saigon,
and carried to Cambodgia, along with a new French mission,
the Siamese mandarin Phya-Montrey-Suriwan, who, by his
breadth of mind and his courteous manners, made us plea-
santly forget his insolent predecessor, in regard to whose
management of Siamese policy he made no hesitation in
repudiating what had been offensive. Thus the despairing
efforts of an adversary, who had almost beaten us, were pub-
licly disavowed. Phnea-rat, who had returned to Houdon
with Phya-Montrey, and was lost in the crowd, devoured his
mortification while he silently chewed his betel. Nothing
was awanting in om- triumph. The Siamese envoy wished
himself to set the crown on Norodom's head, but the chief
of the adnm-al's staff would not allow it. He then proposed
that each party should take a side of it ; but M. DesmouHn
declined that proposition also, and made this arrangement :
he received the crown from the hands of the Siamese, and
then presented it to the king, who crowned himself, like
Napoleon at Notre Dame. When he felt it at last really on
his head, after having seen it vanish so often at the moment

INTRODUCTION. 31

he seemed about to get hold of it, Norodom, overcome by his
happiness, expressed the desire to salute his powerful pro-
tector, Napoleon III. He took some steps to the west, and,
raising his hand to his crown, in imitation of M. Desmoulin,
who toot off his hat, repeated the same profound bows
as had been made to himself. Phnea-rat, fui-ious at this, now
broke through the crowd, demanded that salutations be paid
to the king of Siam, and, throwing himself on the ground,
beat his forehead on it three times. Norodom, for courtesy,
did the same, and all were pleased with the feeling which
inspired this act of the unfortunate general in this his last
public claim. The king of Siam did not, howevei-, decide
till long after this to recognise oui* protectorate officially,
and to tear-up. the secret convention negotiated by Phnea-
rat, and demanded some concessions, which were granted by
France, when he did so, particularly the definitive surrender
to him of the two fine provinces of Battam-bang and Angcor.
If the arrangement made in 1868 is not destined, as we may
hope, however, it will be, to regulate for long our relations
with the court of Siam, it will at least have the advantage
of showing that our power did not abate our moderation.
On learning om* success, the part of the European colony at
Bangkok which had been so hostile to us feigned them-
selves pleased.

I knew by what efforts the French flag had been finally
hoisted at Houdon, and I could not help being astonished at
the scornful indifference with which the king of Cambodgia )
spoke of his old fi-iends the Siamese. At a collation which t,
he gave us he was full of warmth, animation, and spirits./
He seemed prouder of his dishes of figured English crockery
than of his vases and waiters of massive gold. His palace
is nothing more than a great thatched shed, in which a
great nmnber of women ajid servants lodge. Norodom is a
little man, with a great inclination to corpulence. Certainly
he is not good-looking even for a Cambodgian, but his face
is expressive, intelligent, and mobile. He very soon ac-
quired many of our ways, and one might say that he has hit
our characteristics. His conversation, which is very graphic,
is mixed with sallies almost Voltahean. He despises his
subjects, now he no longer fears them, and mocks at Buddha

32 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

when he is in the mood. He treads under foot the ancient
'etiquette, which is the one surviving relic of the old civi-
lisation of the Kmer, and seems disposed always to decide m
favour of us, except on one point. He admits the different
uses of steam, the many uses of electricity, the application
of light to photography, and makes visible efforts to under-
stand them ; but he absolutely refuses to believe that there
.ever has been, or ever can be, a great nation without an
absolute monarch. Despotism shows itself in him with a
naive candour, and he does not hesitate to reply, when
recommended to open or repair a road necessary for com-
merce, — ' There's no use for it — I never went by it.'

The Cambodgians are generally very dissolute. The
Chinese traveller of the thirteenth century, whom I have al-
ready had occasion to quote, tells us, that if a husband be away
on business, and stays over a week, his wife says, ' I'm not
a demon: how can I sleep alone 1' The naive naiTator adds,
' I have, however, heard say that there are chaste women.'
I also have heard the same ; but I doubt if there be virtue
enough in any one to resist the seductions of the king, who
knows the fact, and abuses it, which is one of the main causes
of his great unpopularity. If we had.nat^sup_pQrtedJiim._in
1866,^0 would certainly haye^lostjiis.jthrone. - -The Cam-
bodgians have reason enough to ask a change of government ;
but they would gain nothing by a change of the individual.
One cannot hope that the voice of political reason will make
itself heard in the councils of these Asiatic princes, so long
as that of the passions speaks so loud in their hearts. Sub-
jects may hope in vain for security, while their master is not
yet satiated in his pleasures. The brothers of a king, while
stiU pretenders, pubHsh declarations which they forget as
soon as they are sovereigns. We have, therefore, done
wisely in closing the throne against them, and in proclaim-
ing our intention to uphold established authority. This re-
volt of 1866 has, moreover, created new rights for us over
Cambodgia, while it has made it Norodom's duty to listen to
our counsels. These will not be awanting, and this magni-
ficent country, whose riches will rapidly develop imder a
more humane administration, is an admirable complement of
our Annamite possessions. I had come to this conviction

INTRODUCTION. 33

before returning to Saigon to make my last preparations for
the adventurous expedition, which would bring me in con-
tact, at Laos, — side by side with the ancient vestiges of Cam-
bodgian rule, — with the vigorous imprint of Siamese power,
which bids fair to impose itself, imknown to Europe, on
nearly all Indo-CSbina.

CHAPTER I.

RmNS OF ANGCOE. STUNG-TEEXG. EAPIDS OF KHON-KHONG.
AREIVAL AT BASSAC.

The greatest European colonies have liad modest begin-
nings ; a fortified factory -was the cradle of the immense
empire which to-day embraces the whole Indian peninsula,
and threatens to oveiTun China. Some points gained on
the shore as the result of war, or of successful negotiations ;
some leaders, inspired by various motives, but all, alike,
by the irresistible attractions of the unknown — ^have, most
frequently, been the causes and instruments of progi-essive
invasions, which have almost always ended in a definitive
conquest. Like armies in the field, colonies have their ad-
vanced guards. They cannot suffer either barbarous or idle
races on their fi'ontiers : the tribes which leave a naturally
fertile soil untiUed are not less their enemies than those
which are warlike. By a kind of natural law, which one
can hardly admit without sadness, there is scarcely an alter-
native, for races outside European civilisation, between a
melancholy transformation, or a remorseless extermination.
The Eastern monarchs, who have not yet learned this from
experience, divine it instinctively; and the wiser among
them, opening among themselves a career to rival ambi-
tions, seek safety in the competition thus established. It
was on this account that the clause in our treaty, which
shut out the representatives of other European pow^ers from
Cambodgia, irritated the king of Siam so gravely. It is
thus easy to imderstand the repugnance with which Asiatic
princes receive projects of expeditions into the interior of
their countries.

The exploration of the valley of the Mekong, set afoot

PRELIMINARY DIFFICULTIES. 35

in 1866, by order of the minister of marine, and by the labours
of the governor of French Cochin-China, could not fail to
excite such suspicions, however little ground there might
be for them. Passports were asked fi-om fom- cabinets.
That of Pekin tempoi-ised, and sought to dissuade us from
an entei-prise which would lead us to a part of the Celestial
Empire where we should meet no end of danger ; that of
Hu6 declared that it sought to keep us from its tributary
subjects of the upper valley of the Mekong only from na-
tional self-love ; these half-barbarous tribes in reality paying
them no homage at aU. It has been said that this govern-
ment, so full of coquetry, had sent presents to the chiefs,
urging them to murder us ; but this disgraceful report is
perhaps only one of those mystifications of which the civil-
ised press has not the monopoly. The Bmrmese empire had
just accomplished the revolution, during which the seat of
government had been transferred from Ava to Mandalay;
and the overtures of Admiral de La Grandi^re remained
without result. As to the cabinet of Bangkok, its position
towards us was more delicate. We had always refased to
recognise the rights of the king of Siam over Laos, and, he,
himself, had, besides, found it convenient, about that time, to
say that he exercised a pm-ely nominal sovereignty over that
country, so that he could not, with a good grace, formally
shut us out of it. On the other hand, any bad treatment on
the part of functionaries set up by him might be a cause of
offence to France ; and he questioned if the peaceful con-
quest of Cambodgia might not be a step on oin: march to
Lido-China, and could not refrain fi-om looking on the pro-
jected journey as the preliminary to our taking possession.
The countries thi-ough which we must first pass had been
detached from the Cambodgian monarchy, or subjugated by
Siamese armies, who had committed horrible excesses, and
thus, as Siam had no other right over them but that of con-
quest, we should be in a position, on learning all this, to ques-
tion the validity of its title to them. The king yielded,
however, and sent us passports. It was agreed at Saigon
that the expedition would make a long halt in Lower Laos,
and would receive, some months after its setting out, the
letters expected fi-om Pekin.

3G TRAVELS IN' IXDO-CHIXA.

Tlie principal results Avliich were expected from tlie ex-
ploration of the Mekong maj'- be summed up in a few words.
It was desired, first, that the old maps should be rectified,
and the navigability of the river tried, it beiirg our hope
that we might bind together French Cochin-China and the
western provinces of diina by means of it. Were the rapids,
of whose existence we knew, an absolute barrier? Were the
islands of Khon an impassable difficulty? Was there any
truth in the opinion of geographers who, with Vincendon
Dumoulin, believed that there was a communication between
the.Meinam and the Mekong"? To gather information respect-
ing the sources of the latter, if it proved impossible to rea,ch
them; to solve the different geographical problems which
would naturally offer, was the first part of the programme
the conmiission had to carry otit. We were required, besides,
to report any miscellaneous facts which might throw light
on the history, the philology, the ethnography, or the reli-
gion of the peoples along the great river, which was to be
as much as possible the guiding thread of om- expedition.
We had instructions to seek for a passage from Indo-China
to China; an enterprise in which the English have always
failed as yet. It was, moreover, essential, since the estab-
lishment of France, in Cochin-China, to know our neighbom-s
of Laos better ; the resources of their countiy, and their
relations with the Indo-Chinese powers, of which they were
vaguely known to be tributaries. No limit of time was fixed
for us, nor any route for our retiu-n.

Laos, a vast region, which on the north touches China,
and on the south Cambodgia, was reckoned at Saigon one of
the most unhealthy countries in the world. The missionaries
who, in our time, had tried to carry the Gospel thither, had
either very soon died or had retm-ned grievously ill ; and as
the result of such disastrous experiments, the attemps to com-
bat Bouddhisminoneof its strongholds had been abandoned.
The single lay traveller who had recently tried to explore
these countries, our coimtiyman Mouhot, had set out fi."om
Bangkok, after numerous excm-sions to Cambodgia, and had
struck the Mekong only beyond the 18th degree of latitude,
a little below Luan Traban, where he soon after died. But
Crache, the farthest point on the Mekong fixed by oui' naval

THE TOX-LE-SAP. 37

hydi-ographers, is between the 12tli and 13th degrees. 'Un-
certainty begins within two degrees of Saigon, the very
inexact charts of the great river, beyond that, only mislead-
ing geography instead of serving it. The public will be able
to judge the facts when Lieut. Garnier of the navy, who
had special charge of the meteorological, hydrographical,
and geographical section of the expedition, has finished his
labours.

We left Saigon on the 5th June 1866,, at noon. Those
who knew the indomitable energy of our leader shook
hands with us as if we were doomed; but the majority pre-
dicted a speedy retm-n, after an abortive attempt. For my-
self, when I try to recall to-day what I felt on seeing, from
the bridge of the gunboat, the chief buildings of Saigon, the
infant capital of Asiatic France, receding from view, I find
that my impressions are less vivid than they are of what I
had felt at my fii-st setting- out, some time before, for Cam-
bodgia. I had spent nearly six months in the enervating
climate of Cochin-China, and it had brought me to a- kind of
universal indifference.

I could not leave Cambodgia without visiting the ruins
which are at once its glory and its sTiame. They mark the
spot where the heart of this great Khmer empire, now cold,
once beat, — ^that empu-e whose scattered members we shall
soon find on om- com-se. The contemplation of these magni-
ficent remains was well fitted to increase bur zeal in ;the
discovery of other traces of a civilisation that has disap-
peared. Leaving Compon Luon, ovlt little gunboat took
the diiection of the great lake — the Ton-le-sap, a true
inland sea, not less than twenty leagues in length when the
waters . are lowest, but, when the inundation begins, spread
over the countiy till it triples its surface. During the months
of August and September there are no roads in the lower
districts ; boats sail over the fields, trees show their heads
above the water, and the wild beasts flee, en masse, to the
heights; so that nothing could give a more \avid idea of the
deluge. The inhabitants of the plains betake themselves,
with their domestic animals, to the mountains. The rise of
the water's is not always the same; at times the rice suffers
from want of moisture enough, at others it is drowned out in

38 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIKA.

tlae lower tracts. There is, however, one kind, the stalk of
which grows at the same rate as the waters rise, so that the
ear is always at the siirface.

We were in the month of June ; the rains had hardly as
yet begun to fall regularly every day, and the yellow waters
of the lake were still comparatively shallow. The channels of
this immense reservoir, which obscure traditions affinn to be
comparatively recent, are narrow, and grow sensibly more
obstructed year by year. At the entry, on the left, a chain
of mountains runs in the direction of Pm-sat. SnoAvs crowii
the peaks, and the sun, which does its best to melt them,
without effect, gives them a pale, ethereal look. AVe meet,
here and there, some fishing-boats which have stayed after
the rest. Villages are scattered thinly along the banks,
others come out over the water, the fi-ail posts which support
the huts bending under the force of the waves without its
seeming to trouble the inmates. They are Annamites, and,
like the buflalo, their faithful servant, if the land fail them,
they take to the water. Presently the wind rises, it blows
violently, ploughing deep furrows in the lake. The land is
only a blue thread on our right, hardly seen above the waves ;
on our left the horizon is all sea.

An imaginary line, from two opposite posts placed on the
banks, divides the great lake at two-thii-ds of its length,
and marks the beginning of the Siamese dominions. When
he took possession of the two provinces of Battam-bang and
Angcor, the king of Siam appropriated part of the lake, of
which, however, he can make little use, as the mouths still
remain in the hands of the Cambodgians. The Annamites
give themselves almost wholly to their fisheries. Some
thousands of theii- boats are employed on the lake itself,
and in the arm which connects it with the Mekong, and load
very deep with the fish taken. Part of this astonishing har-
vest of the waters forms the food of the population at large :
the rest is used to make oil.

This annual fishery is counted so good an affair that the
Annamites sometimes give 100 per cent for money borrowed
to buy the salt needed. The legal interest in Cambodgia
is from forty to a hundred per cent a year ! The Annamites
ply, also, another industry in Cambodgia, which I must men-

MOUNT KHRolIE. 39

tion. When the waters are high, they go up the arroj'os
Avhich enter the Mekong, and cut down the bamboos on the
banks, making them into huge rafts, which they commit to
the ciirrent. When these reach Pnom-Penh, prices fall so
low that you buy thirty or forty great bamboos for one
ligature, that is, a franc ; but to raise their value, a very
simple means is taken — they bum up a fourth part of the
stock.

In the evening, as our gunboat anchors, some fisheries
show themselves by the flickeiing light of torches, which
illuminates them with the fiery-serpent-like beams it casts
on the waters: there is no human sound; nothing but the
rippling of the water, and the dying voice of the wind. The
fishing season is over, and the fish enjoy more peace through-
out all their domain. The next day we see before us Mount
Khrome, which was formerly crowned by a pagoda, the ruins
of which we wish to visit before going on to Angcor. They
are hidden by a thick curtain of high trees, and consist of
seven towers, sidll standing. At the entrance of the last
enceinte, there are two of brick, and two of sandstone.
Prom their isolation, one cannot but notice them, but the
three which rise before them absorb all the attention. The
largest, which is tlie centi'e one, is the most broken down,
and perhaps owes part of its effect to the ravages of time.
On the side beaten by the winds and toiTcnt-like rains, which
last five months of the year, it looks like a rock roughly
quarried over, but with some fragments of fine sculpture
here and there. A crowd of bats, disturbed by our presence,
flew whirling out of a large gap in the ruin. The two other
towers, which are better preserved, are covered %vith ara-
besques and ornaments, which increase our desire to see
Angcor. We are afready in the province of that name, a
province lost by the grandfather of Norodom by a kind of
political swindle. The moral authority of the grandson has
not entirely disappeared from this land, where his grand-
father reigned, and the governor of Angcor gave ub a hearty
welcome, putting horses, elephants, and buffalo-wagons at our
disposal; and our caravan, thus made up, advanced towards
his residence. An enormous enceinte, built of non-stone re-
gularly cut, and probably taken fi-om some ruins, recalls the

40 TR.W'ELS IN INDO-CHIKA.

castles of the middle ages. A huge iron cannon, in which
birds nestle, is moimted in front of the principal gate, and
human heads fresh cut off, and set on long pikes fixed in the
ground, show that the lord of the place has the right to
inflict death - penalties. Some Cambodgian thatches are
all you see inside the enceinte of this vast citadel. An air
of cleanHness, which one does not commonly see even in the
houses of great people, distinguishes the dwelling of the
governor, who took no end of trouble with ue, and wrote
our names and rank on a slate ; a foi-m of politeness, but, per-
haps, an act of policy as well, for this brave Cambodgian was
the agent of the court of Bangkok. . Some bad European
engravings adorned the pillars and the walls, and a por-
trait of the Pope was hung at the entrance to the women's
apartments.

Leaving this hospitable dwelling, we entered the forest,
where the roughness of the road, which made my wagon
perform a thousand fantastic somersaults, did not hinder my
admiring the luxuriance of the tropical vegetation. Gigantic
trees fought for room, and the branches, interlacing, a hun-
dred feet above us, intercepted the light of the sun. The air
circulated with difficulty through the verdm-e ; gusts of heat
came fi-om the sim, as from a ftirnace. The feet of the ani-
mals raised the gray sand of the road ; and it was necessary
to strive against the physical discomfort, and make a con-
stant effort to admire the wonderful arboreal columns, placed
there by natm-e as a magnificent portal to the ruins of Ang-
cor, described already by the Portuguese at the close of the
sixteenth century, but buried tiU late years in unmerited
obscurity. Some hours of this fatiguing march through the
woods brought us to them.

Lions, stiff and fierce as those of heraldry, first met the
eye. They stand erect at the entrance to a vast causeway,
paved with large slabs, leading across immense ditches, now
transformed to swamps, to a gallery, the three half-fallen
towers of which interrupt the long line of building. I shall
ever recall the profound impression this spectacle excited.
Pompous descriptions had been given me ; I had just re-read
the pages of M. Mouhot on Angcor; but in spite of all, I felt
overcome. I had, as it were, a shock of astonishment. I

I

RUINS OF ANGCOR. 41

had hardly cleared the gate of the central pavilion when a
second paved avenue, aboiit 200 metres in length, opened
before me to a huge building, the style of which is as differ-
ent from any of our western forms of architecture as the
Chinese fancies, of which I had abeady been able to study
some examples. Wearied with the jom-ney, and overcome
by the heat, I thought I saw an incredible number of towers
of strange outline dance before me, nothing supporting
them in the air, and another higher tower rising above them.
This kind of hallucination soon passed, and gave place to
a just admiration. The general plan is simple. The edi-
fice is made up of two rectangular, concentric galleries,
rising in stories : the fii-st, — of which the shortest side is not
less than 180 metres, while the two lateral faces are about
250, — adorned at the corners by pavilions. The second is
adorned with four towers, built like an immense tiara. In
the middle of the second . gallery a high mass of masonry
rises, ended likewise by four . towers. The centre of this
wall, which is also the centre of the building, bears a tower
of the same style as the others, but higher,^ which seems to
reign over the whole structure. In most Christian temples,
the sanctuary, placed at the most secluded and gloomy end
of the building, is, as it were, surrounded by shadows ; no
light reaches it but that of the coloured windows through
which it streams. At Angcor, the holy of holies is in the
highest tower, the part nearest light and day. This holy of
holies is, nowadays, reduced to four very mediocre statues
of Bouddha, to the foot of which the bonzes arrive by the
avenues, which, cutting the two enceintes at right angles,
abut on the four grand staircases of the central mass. With
the exception of horizontal surfaces, there is not a stone of
this colossal monument without carving. These sculptures
are marvels from the chisel of incomparable artists, whose
inspirations are graven on the stones for ever, but whose
names have perished from the memory of man.
) ' The man most given to art, reading, in Paris, the truest

description of the Coliseum, could not avoid thinking the
authoi-'s exaggeration ridiculous, though he had had only the
one thought, to keep the; fear of his reader before his eyes,
1 It is 56 metres above the level of tlie causeway.

42 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHrNA.

and express himself with a studied moderation.' This re-
flection of Stendthal comes to my mind, and checks me from
continuing this rapid sketch of the noble temple of Angcor.
According to an almost legendary tradition, it was founded,
in fulfilment of a vow, by a king who was a leper, and lived
in the neighbom-ing town, where his monument may yet be
seen. It i-vms back to a date less distant than that of the
principal monuments of the capital, and is in a state of
comparative preservation, which makes the opinion very
probable, but nothing has as yet been discovered to enable
the date to be fixed exactly. Among the kings who have
reigned over Cambodgia, a number of those who have
thought themselves illustrious — and that happens often, one
would think, with sovereigns — changed the Cambodgian era,
and even introduced compulsory changes into the alphabet,
and hence there is a confusion almost hopeless. One can
hai-dly, however, doubt, that the development of architec-
tm-al art, of which this temple seems the highest expression,
coincided with the triumphant blossoming of Bouddhism
among the Khmer people, perhaps when it had been chased
from India at the time of the great religious persecution. In
celebrating their new faith by imperishable works, these emi-
grants have imprinted on them the seal of the monuments
of their country — monuments whose image they had carried
with them in the depth of their hearts.

As to the town itself, Angcorthfim, Angcor the Great, the
walls alone are perfect. They are three metres broad ; and
their great courses of cut stone, laid one on the other, with-
out lime or cement, defy the ages, and resist the efforts of
a vigorous vegetation, still more destnictive. Causeways
thrown over great ditches lead to the gates of the town,
guarded by fifty great stone giants, huge, grimacing sen-
tinels, bound one to the other by the folds of a monstrous
serpent, which exhausts itself in impotent struggles to escape
their grasp. The gate by which we penetrated the interior
of the ancient city forms a vault six metres in depth, and it
is not without reason that M. Mouhot calls it a triumphal
arch. Elephant-heads adorn its summit, and the trunks led
down vertically, as great pillars, rest on a bundle of huge
leaves.

RUINS OF ANGCOR. 43

Sadness follows astonishment, when, having passed this
magnificent entrance, one comes on a dense forest, filling the
vast enceinte shut in by its great walls. It is necessary to
pass through closely-tangled thickets to reach the ruins of
the few buildings of which vestiges still siurvive, and to
have recourse to the compass to keep firom losing oneself in
these solitudes, peopled only by wild creatures, which call and
answer each other with hoarse cries, the echoes prolonging,
and turning them, as it were, to groans. We had an excellent
guide in M. de Lagr^e. He had long before this studied, vnth
the passion of a savant, all that remained standing within
the walls of the town, and had discovered a temple and
great buildings, seemingly, the residences of princes and
the palace of the kings. The latter had fallen down under
the efforts of roots and creepers, which force themselves
between the stones like iron wedges. It appeared to have
been the conception of an imagination of imheard-of richness,
and was formerly surmounted by a prodigious number of
towers, perhaps forty or fifty, some of which, representing
heads of Bouddha, recalled the sphinxes of Egypt. Though
it was impossible to judge of this monument fairly, mutilated
as it was, invaded by vegetation, cumbered by ruins ; and
though an architecture, which makes great towers of mons-
trous human figures, is too remote fi-om our notions not to be-
wilder oui- judgments, I cannot consent to put this fantastic
structure in the same rank with the temple of which I have
just spoken, which is a model of grandeur, harmony, and
simplicity. According to Christoval de Jaque, one of the
Portuguese who took refuge in Cambodgia diuring the six-
teenth century, after having been di'iven from Japan, Angcor
was no longer a royal residence in 1570. He seems to say
that even at that period it had ah-eady been deserted by its
inhabitants.

Was civilisation, in the complex meaning we give that
word, in keeping, among the ancient Cambodgians, with
what such prodigies of architecture seem to indicate 1 The
age of Phidias was that of Sophocles, Socrates, and Plato ;
Michael Angelo and Raphael succeeded Dante. There are
Ivuninous epochs, dming which the human mind, developing
itself in every direction, tiiumphs in all, and creates master-

44 tra-vt:ls in ixdo-china.

pieces, which spring fi-om the same inspiration. Have the
nations of India ever known such periods of special glory?
It appears little probable, and it is only necessary to read
the Chinese traveller of the thirteenth century, whose nar-
rative M. Abel R^musat'has translated, to be convinced
that it was never reached by the Khmers. He describes the
monuments of the capital, most of which were covered with
gilding, and he adds that, with the exception of the temples
and the palace, aU the houses were only thatched. Their
size was regulated by the rant of the possessor, but the
richest did not venture to build one like that of any of the
great officers of state. Despotism induced corniption of
mannei's, and some customs mentioned by our author show
actual barbarism. Let me add, when one goes over the
ruins, it is impossible to refrain from a generalisation, which
some exceptions do not invalidate. The human form was
not understood; and if Cambodgia has had incomparable
architects and marvellous carvers, it has had no sculptors.

In the presence of these grand wrecks of the past, one is
struck with admiration ; but there is little emotion, and the
enjoyment is far from complete. The ruins of a monastery
mouldeiing in the bosom of an English wood ; the cracked
walls of a deserted chateau which sheltered the feudal
baron, move us more deeply. Men of our own race have
thought behind these walls, have fought behind these battle-
ments ; we can reconstruct then- lives, can follow the traces
of their footsteps. Here, in this spot of the extreme East,
all is dead, even to the memory of that brilliant theocracy,
the mother of a material civihsation, greatly developed, we
own, but which never reached a manly maturity. The research
of science, which leads us, little by little, towards our origin,
and shows us our brothers in the first castes of India, in-
terests the mind rather than touches the heart ; the sepa-
ration is too remote, and these sepulchres seem too good for
the race they entomb.

After eight days of painful jom-neying and incessant
study, M. de Lagrde gave the signal of departure. Our
camp, established in a thatched house, at the foot of the
great temple, was struck before daybreak, and our caravan
formed, as when we came ; — of horses, buffalo-wagons, and

OUR MUSTER ROLL. 45

elephants. One of tliese, of huge size, -^"ith huge tusks, stood
immovable between two pillars of the "peristyle, and in the un-
certain light of the early morning, seemed part of the base-
ment of the edifice. We rejoined the gunboat, which quickly
took us to Pnom-Penh, the capital of Cambodgia. O'm- first
business was to run through the shops of the Chinese mer-
chants, finally to complete our store of objects of exchange.
We had brought firom Saigon pieces of velvet and silk, some
arms of little value— a veritable venture— to which we now
added cotton checks of all colours, glass trinkets, and brass
wii-e. Besides the bags of Siamese Ticaux, which come fi-om
Bangkok, our treasure consisted of gold in leaf and bars, and
some Mexican dollars — ^the whole representing hardly thii'ty
thousand francs. The commission was formed of six members
— ^MM. de Lagr^e, head of the expedition ; Gamier and De
la Porte, naval officers ; Joubert and Morel, navy surgeons ;
and L. de Came, attached to the department for. foreign
affairs; — the escort consisted of two French sailors and two
French soldiers ; of two Tagals from the Philippines, chosen
from the best of those who remained at Saigon, after the
departm-e of the Spanish soldiers; and of six Annamites. We
took with us, also, a European interpreter, who spoke Siam-
ese fluently, a Cambodgian interpreter, and an interpreter
for Laos. The last, having lived long in Cambodgia, could
speak Cambodgian. M. de Lagr^e alone could hold com-
mimication with him and the Cambodgian.

The Cambodgians came to bid us farewell, and strove to
dissuade us fi-om setting out. These brave folks could not
succeed in comprehending what motive could urge strangers
living beyond the sea to imdertake a journey which none of
themselves would dare to try. They are kept back by fa-
bulous stories and imagiaary fears. The king himself, whose
predecessors extended their rule pyer part of Laos, knew
nothing of the country, except that the ah- and the water in
it are mortal. Our Cambodgian interpreter, a young man
full of intelligence and in high health, who had lived long
among Europeans, drew back fi-ightened at the last mo-
ment. He feigned sickness, and we were compelled to take
him with us by force. As to the Laotian who accompanied
us, he seemed glad to see his country again. The son of a

46 TRAVELS IN IXDO-OHINA.

travelling merchant, he had long followed his father across
mountains and forests, sleeping under trees or in the pagodas,
and living on rice, -which the laws of hospitality secure to
all travellers. One day, in the middle of one of these jour-
neys, his father died. He closed his eyes, and confided his
dust to the bonzes of a village ; then continuing his travels
as chance guided him, going on or stopping as he thought
fit, ended by reaching Bangkok, whence he passed to Cam-
bodgia. He had learned the virtue of plants dm-ing his
sojourn in the forests ; and having come from a distant and
therefore a marvellous country — one of those which border
the great river on the confines of the gTcat empire — ^he did
not fail to make use of these facts to gain himself respect.
He put the topstone on his fortune by turning bonze, gained
the confidence of the king's mother in this character, and
spent his life loaded with dainties and honours. Sacrificing
all this to his wish to get married, he had thi-own his yellow
firock to the nettles, and the plump and venerated bonze,
the sage and rare oracle, who decided cases of conscience,
became a badly -fed man and a deceived husband. He con-
tinued, by force of habit, to chant the praises of Bouddha all
day ; and fearing lest any one should steal his private idol
— a little statuette in silver-gilt — he confided it to me, and
I threw it into the bag that held my dollars.

Meanwhile king Norodom was not willing to let us go
without giving a feast in our honom*. In the shed which
serves for the throne-room of his majesty, seats set in a line
were prepared for us. That of the king was, naturally, the
highest. As soon as the orchestra struck up, actresses pre-
sented themselves in their ordinary dress, and began an
interminable ballet-pantomime, accompanied by recitatives,
of which we did not understand a word, and singing, by a
choir, in a snuffling tone. The king seemed to follow with
interest the evolutions of his women, who stopped often be-
fore him, and gave him a special salute, with much sensual
grace. The dancing-girls, squatted on the ground, raised
their hands, little by little, above then.- heads — their bodies
at first bent back, a brilliant dress showing theii- forms —
straightened themselves at the sound of three beats given
by the orchestra ; then remamed an instant on their knees.

VfE LEAVE PN05I-PEXH. 47

■with their breasts bent forwards. The costumes were like
those of the kings and lords which remain preserved on the
bas-rehefs : there was a deal of gold and tinsel, of glass and
precious stones, on them — a singular raixtm-e of luxury and
misery, which reminded one of the theatres at fairs. The
king seemed in ecstasy, and could not refrain from asking
his neighbour which of the actresses he thought prettiest.
The interpreter, having been asked secretly, indicated by his
eye which of them enjoyed the royal favours for the time;
and Norodom appeared highly pleased with the answer.
After the toasts and the shaking hands, new and familiar
customs which a little shocked the upholders of the old eti-
quette, we left the palace, and our gunboat saluted the Cam-
bodgian flag with twenty-one guns. The wretched pieces,
which were all the artilleiy the king had, made an attempt
at returning this farewell salvo, and we entered the great
arm of the Mekong. It was a solemn moment ; every one
gave himself up to his own thoughts. The brows wei-e grave,
the lips were silent ; but a secret joy lightened the face : om-
voyage had begun.

The provinces on the river seem to me the best-culti-
vated parts of Cambodgia. They raise a large quantity of
maize, and especially of cotton. The island of Ko-Sutia
yields, by itself, an animal revenue of 15,000 francs to the
king's mother ; and this represents hardly a tenth of the
value of the total production. The villages, overshadowed
by cocoa-trees, which hang out then* heavy plumes over
bamboo huts, have an air of elegance which increases as we
recede from Pnom-Penh. Gonti-ary to the European rule,
nearness to the capital is no security in this country for
the people liable to forced labom-. In less than two days'
journey above Pnom-Penh, the navigation of the Mekong
becomes difficult, and the gunboat, which carried us as far as
Crache, made ready to retm-n to Saigon. Henceforth France
was before, not behind us ; for we were determined to get
to it only by crossing China. AU our aspirations went out
towards that empire. M. de Lagree was afraid of such
enthusiasm ; for he knew that it was near neighbour to
despondency," and foresaw that our work would be pre-
eminently one of patience. The governor of Crache, who

48 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

was prepared for our arrival beforehand by a letter from
Norodom, took several days to collect the boats needed for
the expedition, and, after all, got together only half the
number we required. We were in a friendly country, and
the authorities showed us sincere good-will ; and yet it was
already necessary, to avoid delay, that we should leave part
of our provisions behind. It was a foreshadow of the utter
destitution which awaited ue hereafter.

The boats are narrow canoes, made commonly of a
single tree, hollowed out by fire, and provided with a con-
trivance which enables them to ascend the torrent-like cur-
rent of the river. They are covered along all then* length,
except at the ends, with a round roof of leaves, kept in their
place by a double trellis of bamboo sUps. This cover is a
good-enough protection against the rays of the sun, but it
is often of little use against rain. Large bamboos fixed in
the sides of the canoes, and immersed in the water, give
them the stability they would otherwise want. A narrow
board forms an outside bench on which the boatmen get
about easily. Each of these, furnished with a long boat-
hook, catches it in the branches of trees or the roughnesses
of the rocks, while the steersman at the end skilfully guides
the paddle which serves as a helm. For eight hoiu-s a day
our unhappy Cambodgians go round us with the docility ol
the blind horses used to turn wheels, their chief, if they seem
to fail, rousing them by crying that he wiU get them beaten
when they arrive. They are sweet-tempered and resigned,
often almost mu-thful; yet they are men mostly dragg-c-d
away from their rice-fields, sent far fi-om their families 'an6
their interests, and they have no right to any wages ; for ir
Cambodgia every free man is liable to forced labour fron:
eighteen to sixty, and we were provided- by the king's orders
I was leaving civilisation behind, and entering on a savage
country ; I had passed at one step from a steam-ship to i
canoe. The roof was too low to let me sit up ; I had t(
keep half lying doAvn ; and the rain-water collected in th(
bottom, splashed my feet every moment. The captain was
however, very attentive, for I was a great lord in his eyes
and busied himself durmg the squalls by baling the boa
with a leaf of banana.

DIFFICULT NAM;GATI0.\'. 49

■ The stream is sown -with islands, which divide it into a
great many arms. The opposite bank could only be seen
in the foggy distance. The waters, dashing against rocks
which formed an almost uninterrupted series of rapids, made
a great thundering in the air. Between the islands, these
rapids offer a singular appearance ; for an incredible quantity
of shi-ubs have " taken root on the rocks and shoals, and
rise above the surface, their stems bent by the current, as if
a foirest had been flooded. Some high trees seem to hold on
to the earth only by creepers, which bind them to the bank,
like any roots. Om' boatmen showed extreme boldness and
wonderful agiHty. They guided then- skiff with precision
along winding channels, among trees round which the water
boiled as it rushed past. They were admii-able equilibrists,
and never failed to seize any rugged trunk or bending
branch, which could serve them for a hold, and hinder the
canoe from putting its side to the stream, which would have
thrown it on the rocks. After some hours of this excite-
ment, I always hailed the time of halting with pleasure.
We had the forest for dining-room, aiid herds of wild boars
had often to make way for us. Our bedroom was the narrow
and damp jail of our canoes. Evening come, we cut down
trees, cleared away the long plants streaming with rain;
the fii-es kindled at last ; every one exerted himself; and
dinner began, — most commonly fi-ugal enough, sometimes
even sumptuous, as our fortime with the gun had been
better or worse, — ^but almost delightfijlly happy. The re-
membrances of Paris, the prospects of oiu- voyage, or per-
haps political or religious discussions, sent round among the
astonished echoes of these grand woods words new to them.
A pertinacious grasshopper pursued us from station to sta-
tion, and sounded at the same hour its single and long-drawn
note, as if to give the pitch to the other musicians of these
sombre green palaces. In these regions, life seems to awake
at nightfall. The creatures, overcome, like man, by the heat
of the day, take a long siesta till the sun is near sinking.

One evening we had stopped at the bottom of a little
creek, thinking ourselves sheltered from the wind and rain.
Oiir boats were drawn close to each other, and moored in a
brook" nearly dry, while we 6m-selves were sleeping quietly,

E

50 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

in spite of the loud cries of tigers, too near at hand.^ All at
once a storm broke over our heads, and a deluge of rain fell on
our camp,— one of those tropical rains which nothing can
stand, and that form great floods in a few seconds, swelling
the least thread of water into an impetuous torrent. The quiet
brook, in which our boats hardly floated, rose high, at once,
and it was all we could do to get them anchored once more
to the bank. When the danger was over, we could enjoy,
at our ease, the fair disorder of virgin nature around, to
which the pale light of electricity lent mysterious charms. ^

At last, after nine days of this perilous and slow navi-
gation, we reach Stung-Treng, the first village of Laos.
It lies partly on the banks of the great river Attopee,
the first large affluent of the Mekong. The province, of
which it is the chief place, formerly belonged to Cambodgia,
and was only separated from it during last century. It has
some political importance, for it borders on our Aimamite
possessions, and the malcontents who were chased from
Tay-ninh, one of our advanced posts, were able to take
refuge there, to repair their losses, or form new plans of
campaign.

We had, then, set foot in this terrible Laos : and were
about to get a sample of it in our first relations with the
authorities. The governor, a Laotian, six feet high, with a
face stupid by the constant use of opium, and an interminable
neck, received us dryly, and refused us the slightest ser-
vices, under pretext that om- demands were contrary to
usage. The sight of our Siamese passport seemed to have
some little efi'ect on him ; and we had brought a great many
packages, which he took for granted were filled with every-
thing precious; for M. de Lagrde had been styled a greal
mandarin in the letter firom Siam, and our names had all
been handed in to the chancellor's office at Bangkok as those
of very great men. But well-taught people receive no gifts
without giving some in retui'n. He weighed all this in his
wisdom, and ended by giAring us a pig. He was presently
told, that it was not our custom to accept hogs from go-
vernors of provinces. More and more humbled, he came
himself with his excuses to the chief of the expedition. He
declared, that having lately had a visit fi-om a Frenchman

OUR TROUBLES. 51

whose violence had frightened the whole people, he thought
himself lost when he saw six come ; but the quietness of our
manners and the strict discipline of our escort had quickly
reasBiwed him. As a proof of his good feeling, he ordered
a small establishment to be set up for us at once ; for we had
no lodgings but the canoes, and it may be readily believed
that we were anxious to quit them for terra firma. It took
only two hours to make. Woven bamboos formed a clean
floor for us ; a roof of thatch kept us pretty well from the
rain ; and a charming tapestry of large banana-leaves pro-
tected us from the sun, whose rays, thus sifted, coloured them-
selves green in passing through.

We had lived fifteen days in this fragile house, -which
was shaken by the squalls; while the river kept steadily
rising, and after a time covered the floor. Our barrels of brandy
and wine, pierced by legions of invisible insects, ran empty
in a single night; and our flour stuffs, spoiled by a pene-
trating damp, were past using even before the water had co-
vered the oven we had hastily built. We were hardly able to
save from this last disaster a few bottles of wine for the sick,
and a little flour, so indispensable for our quinine piUs, of
which there was afready a large daily consumption. Besides
cases of fever, the sad, but inevitable tribute to the climate
and the season, two members of the commission fell seriously
ill — ^the one of dysenteiy, which speedily took away all his
strength ; the other of a typhoid fever, so severe our
doctors gave him up as hopeless. The forced stoppage of
rations of wine and brandy, and the wretched native chicken
substituted for beef, raised discontent among the Frenchmen
of the escort, which often broke out in mm-murs; till it
became clear that they had not sufficiently realised the
expedition they had joined, to let us hope that it would be
possible to keep them long.

At Stung-Treng, Cambodgian is only used by the educated
and by travelling merchants. Laotian is in common use;
and yet om- interpreter, who had never hved but at Bang-
kok, made himself easily understood fi-om the first day. It
is a proof of the close relations between the Siamese and
Laotian languages. This resemblance of the two idioms was
confirmed at each station of our voyage, nor did it fail sen-

•52 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

sibly till we were on the borders of Burmah. As far as that,
it is too general and too striking to be attributed to the
eiFect of conquest. Opposite Stung-Treng, however, on the
other bank of the river, there still exists a large village of
Cainbodgians, who received us almost as if we were fellow-
couritrymen, when we went to hunt among them.

The vast forest, which crowds their huts between its an-
cient trees and the tumultuous river, is full of savage crea-
tures, in the pursuit of which we affected, at first, an ardour
which soon cooled. In one of these hunts, in which several
flocks of pea-fowl had been decimated, I was overtaken by
a storm, with one of my companions, and soon found that we
were lost. We had no compass ; no mark by which we could
tell our way presented itself; all the trees looked aKke ; and
we could fancy, for the three hours dm-ing which we walked
on at random, what the feelings must be of a traveller hope-
lessly lost in these solitudes, full of shadows and sounds, a
hundred times more terrifying than deserts of sand. The
Cambodgians, who were Tineasy at om- non-appearance, hap-
pily came upon us towards evening, and, guided by them,
we discovered some brick walls, the last traces of an im-
portant town, and visited some monuments still standing.
'I'he one in best preservation is an edifice, rectangular at
the bottom, terminating in a kind of tower. The base is de-
corated with a garland of birds interlaced, which surrounds
the monument about two feet from the ground. Over the
principal gate there is a sculptured sandstone pediment, let
into the wall, and supported by two brick pillars of elegant
form. : These ruins, though inferior to those at Cambodgia,
maybe regarded as the half- effaced signatiu-e of the old
Khmer masters of the soil, whose inhabitants have forgotten
them.

Siam has completely assimilated to itself these people,
who speak its language. It names their governors, and sends
them their collectors of customs; its silver money is the only
coin in circulation. For transactions of little value, a pecu-
liar money is used at Stung-Treng, consisting of ingots of
iron narrowing towards the end, and about a ddcimfetre in
length. These ingots are made by the savage Guys, who
live in the north of the province of Compong-soai, and are

THE LAOTIAXS. 53

tributary to Norodom. Barter was the easiest exchange for
us among this half-barbarous population. Empty bottles and
eighteen inches of red cotton secured us the good services
of the housewives, who covered our table with the pro-
ductions of the coimtry — pumpkins and cucumbers, with rice
boiled in water — a wretched feast, but cheered at times by a
bottle of preserves. It was important, at our entrance to
Laos, to establish om* reputation. We, therefore, gave away
glass collars, earthenware pipes, and other objects of similar
value, to the principal personages. The governor got one
of the fom- revolvers . we could spare ; and this generous
act so moved him, that he at once got ready the boats we
needed. He went so far as to beg us to put off our departure,
because, on the day we had chosen, we might meet an evil
spirit which nins on the waters, enticing after him voy-
agers foolish enough to brave them, and swallowing them up
in a whirlpool. In spite of this alarming prediction, our Lao-
tians went to work at the hour we had fixed ; and we left
Stimg-Treng, carrying our sick. Of these one was nearly
well again; the other, delirious, and seemingly near death,
had, like us aU, no other bed than the bamboo hurdle, which
reached firom end to end of the canoe, and caught the rain
through mnnerous holes, which soon showed themselves in
om- roofs of leaves. He got better, however, and our con-
fidence began to retm-n.

The river continues of a gi"eat breadth; so much so, that
the two banks are, in some places, more than two leagues
apart, and nothing can give an idea of the. violence of the
current. Notwithstanding the vast width of its bed, it twists
itself into the sharpest eddies, and drives against the land
with fury. An enormous alligator, which had been hm-led
by it against the trees, had been killed by the shock ; and
we saw its carcass, cai-ried among the branches and thi-own
up again, almost straight, like that of some hideous executed
criminal. We followed, closely, the naiTower and more tortu-
ous channels, creeping along the edges of the islands, hook-
ing om'selves on to creepers, roots, and the trunks of gi'eat
trees. When one of these was too near the water to let us
glide beneath it, the whole flotiUa was stopped, and every
one worked without intermission till the obstruction gave

54 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

way before their axes. It would have been pei-ilous to leave
the bank ; for the boats would have been carried away like
straws, by the violence of the current, had we done so.

After leaving Stung-Treng, the banks of the river were
a desert. Not a hut showed a sign of human presence. The
river and the forest join one to the other, and nothing is
heard but the noise of the wind in the high branches of the
trees, or the roaring of the waters rotmd their roots. Some
few mountains show themselves at a distance from each
other, as far as we can see, and we also soon distinguish the
hills of Khong. The islands multiply beyond number ; we
advance slowly through them ; and our boatmen, who never
lose their way in this labyiinth, halt at last at the mouth of
the bed of a torrent. This torrent, though dry in spring-time,
is the one passage fi-equented, after some months of rain, by
the boats of the merchants ; a channel always difficiilt, en-
cumbered by shallows, and only passed through after several
times partially unloading the cargo on some rock, tioisting
to get it on board again, after the obstacle has been sur-
mounted, by hauling it along a rope of rattan. We had to
employ other means. Our letter from Siam gave us the right
to require the cooperation of the authorities in the organi-
sation of our transport. It was, therefore, much easier to
cross the island on foot, and take new boats on the other
side of the cataracts. Mandarins always do this in traveUing,
and the government maintain a buffalo-wagon on pm-pose,
for the transfer of baggage.

The hostelry to which we were taken, while everything
was being made ready for a new start, consisted of two small'
dilapidated huts. We found only the wreck of the lodgings
prepared for the last mandarin who had crossed the island,
and had to content om-selves with it ; for we had committed
the mistake of not announcing om-selves. It was easier to
do this on leaving a canoe, and the country made us forget
the poor shelter. Masses of trees, impenetrably thick, hid
the river, a considerable stretch of which ran along our left. It
made itself heard by a noise not unlike that which meets one
as he comes near the shore at Penmarch in Brittany ; and
the sight which I soon had under my eyes can only be com-
pared for effect to that of the sea dashing against the strand

is

TERRIBLE RAPIDS. 55

after a storm. An arm of the river, about 800 metres in
breadth, is obstructed from side to side by enormous blocks
of rock. The current, ten times fiercer for these checks, hurls
its furious waters against them. The projecting rock, on
which I stood, was often covered by the spray; and as far
as I could see, the white crests of the waves were mingled
with the black tops of the rocks. The sheet of water seemed
to enlarge, and lose itself insensibly in the distance, with no
other limit than the blue mountains on the horizon. It is
through this, mainly, ,that the waters of the Mekong pre-
cipitate themselves into the lower part of the valley, but
they also escape, by other outlets. Here, the water is broken
up as it dashes into a gul^ raising a sparkling pillar of
moist diist, on; which there rests a rainbow. Farther ofl^ a
cascade, mostly open, recalls by its regular outline the bars
of our rivers or lakes. Elsewhere, the water spreads out,
half veiled by charming trees, which bend over it, and dip
their ever-fresh leaves, and white and rose flowers, in its
coolness.

These cataracts offer an insurmountable obstacle to steam
navigation. The difficulty commences a little above Crache,
where the blocking of the stream is complete, and could only
be removed by a large amount of labom\ In the seventeenth
century, it would appear, a Jesuit offered to the king a model
for the construction of some dams, which would facilitate the
passage. 1 The king,' says an Italian missionary of the time,
who. tells the fact, .-has always been more concerned for the
safety of his kingdom— the advantageous position of which
serves him as a rampart against the insults of his neigh-
bours — than for gain; about which, fi-om a generous con-
tempt he has for, it, he gives himself no trouble. He very
much approved- the proposal, but he said it would give his
enemies the key to his states.' The king of Siam will not
likely have any need to weigh such considerations nowa-
days, for no one, for long to come, will dream of taking up
again this project of dams. We have still too much to do
in the delta of the Mekong to think of giving considerable
sums for such an enterprise, which only the wants of an
important commerce could justify. This vast gathering of
islands, islets, and rocks, which form formidable rapids

56 TRAVELS IN INDOCHINA.

during the rains, is turned into cataracts . during the^ dry
season. Then the level of the water falls, the river shrinks,
and shows on the banks marbles equally remarkable for the
fineness of their grain and the brilliancy of their coloui'S.

The island of Khong is inhabited by agriculturists. The
rice -fields seemed -well cultivated, and we assisted at the
transplanting of the rice. The women of the country, bent
all day over the muddy furrows, have this as their task.
The authorities begged us not to shoot in the island, and
not to beat the gong, because the unwonted noise would
for certain lead tigers to devour a number of the people in
the com-se of the year. At a spot where several branches
of the river flow into it, the view opens as at the meeting of
different roads in a forest. The sheet of water is immense,
and all in one, Kke a lake, as if the Mekong were collecting
itself before the terrible confusions that await it lower down.
Serrated hills form the background of the picture, while,
nearer us, the eye is caught by a fantastic tree which seems
to rise out of the water, and by the thick mantle of green
which covers it, looks like an old line of wall kept np in its
ruin by the living embraces of creepers. We pass soon after
into a coiurse winding among the islands, where we see the
river only at rare intervals, and have to cut ourselves a path,
by blows of the axe, through the forest. A tree which ran
out almost horizontally over the water, and which it was
necessary to cut down, was of huge diameter. My natives
every now and then fell into the water. A loud shout of
laughter announced the accident, which might have been
serious, if the Laotians were not marvellous swimmers; and
I saw the clumsy wight get on board again, leaving it to
the sun to dry his clothes on him. There were one or two
savages in my crew. They were easily known by theii-
manners, but still more so by theii- dress ; for their langouti
was reduced to a kind of narrow drawers, twisted into a
rope behind. These brave creatures, levied for forced labour,
seemed, nevertheless, very happy ; and I had nothing to say
against their mu-th, except that it was, perhaps, a little too
expansive. Their bmrsts of laughter were like the neighing
of draught horses. They renewed them at each sally of one
or other, and sometimes howled like beasts at fault, to ex-

A LAOTUN GOVERNOR. 57

cite themselves -when at some specially hard spot. I should
have got tired of so much noise, if it had not struck me
very opportunely, when I was getting cross, that so much
good-will deserved some allowance.

As you approach the province of Khong the valley con-
tracts, but the river gains in depth by it. The bed, at last
free from rocks, becomes navigable. Large villages stretch
on all sides along the banks, smTounded by bananas and
cocoa-trees, giving the country a pleasant and prosperous
look. The governor, who had been informed of our coming
beforehand, had prepared a huge lodging for us ; and like-
wise let us know that he would be delighted himself to
receive us. We found him an old man, squat, weak, and
fat, but with pleasing features. His white hair and eaffiron
robes made him look not unlike the gods of the country.
Though this excellent Laotian was governor of Stung-Treng
by direct appointment of the court of Bangkok, he seemed
to have no prejudice against us, and if he showed a little
kindly patronising, it was allowable in an old man. He had
not come back from his ntunerous journeys to Siam empty-
handed. With a simple cynicism he asked us to notice an
obscene photograph, inserted in the handle of a knife. To
show us, moreover, that Laotian art was capable of the same
conceptions as European, he made one of the numerous young
females, who assisted at the interview, bring two statuettes
in wood, coarsely carved, which were unfit for the lowest
place in the lowest of secret museums.

The houses of the natives, which are grouped, as usual,
round the enclosure of the governor's palace, are very like
the huts of the Cambodgians. They, perhaps, differ from
them in their height and in the steepness of their roofs,
which makes one think that the rains here are either more con-
tinuous, or heavier. The windows are narrow and few, which
seems to show, farther, that the Laotian values home more
than the Cambodgian, who lives almost in public. The men
have their heads shaved, as in Cambodgia, except on the top of
the head, which is ornamented by a short tuft. The women,
who wear a jupon, and a scarf of a bright colom*, less to hide
their bosoms than to make their skin look a little lighter,
wear chignons. They have veiy little timidity ; and became

5» TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

soon familiar, and even bold, with our escort, carrying their
imceremoniousness so far as to bathe naked in the river
within a few paces of us. The province of Khong has given
the river the name it bears for a good part of its course-
As far as its entrance into China the natives call it Nam
Khong, or water of Khong, river of Khong; a name far more
rational than that of Mekong, which has been adopted by
European geographers, and means literally sea of Khong.
It was formerly part of Cambodgia, like the province of
Tonli-Eepou, which borders it, and there is still a small Cam-
bodgian population on one of the islands.

' The current borrowed, at this time, a fresh force firom the
torrent-rains, which fell daily. The waters rose perceptibly
in twenty-four hom-s. and the total rise withia a month and
a half could not be put lower than four metres. As the sui--
face rose, the stream found an ample harvest of vegetable
wreck on its submerged banks, gathering it through its
whole course. The quantity is so great, that the natives, as
far as Pnom-Penh, and even to the borders of the great lake,
find their provision of wood in its bed. We saw huge trunks
of trees pass, like floating islands, or the vast remains of
some great shipwreck, as the great tangled roots bound
them together, or kept them apart. Enormous bamboos,
loaded with earth at their lower ends, floated perpendicu-
larly ; the eddies and thousand whirlpools, which they had
to pass, making them reel like drunken giants.

When we went to take leave of the old governor, he tu-ed
himself with expressions of good-will, adding them, doubt-
less, to the good works which he was acctimulating against
the close of his hfe, and thinking, perhaps, that provided he
employed part of the money, stolen thi-ough a long career,
rightly, Bouddha would forgive his having kept the rest.
He received with due acknowledgments a silver watch. It
would serve him, he said, as an ornament; for to put such a
thing in the hands of such a savage, was like giving an
ape a cocoa-nut, which he turns and turns, without knowing
how to open or make use of it. He told us he had sent on
a gang of Laotians, the day before, to cut the branches in
the course of our canoes, and to open the way for us to the
borders of the states of his confi-^re of Bassac.

OUR CREW. 59

The six long canoes which canied us were manned by fifty-
three of a crew, who were guided and kept in order by five
chiefs of an inferior grade. These petty mandarins were re-
sponsible for us to the governor, who had appointed them,
and he, in his turn, was responsible, for any trouble we might
meet, to the king of Siam. We had not to think of anything
while we passed from one point to another, and M, de Lagr^e
confined himself to naming the spot which he thought suited
for our stopping at night. The chiefe of the village came,
according to custom, to offer us presents, which were not
always enough for our wants, but they helped out ovx pro-
visions, and were better than nothing. The bank served for
kitchen ; the ground for seat and table. Compared to the Lao-
tians, who were with us, we lived luxuriously. They fed, com-
monly, on rice, with which they crammed themselves several
times a day, adding pimento to it, some lumps of dry or
stinking fish, and raw vegetables. When they had the chance
of adding anything more substantial, they took care not to
let it escape them. I have .often seen them, the moment they
landed, spread themselves through the villages, force the
doors of the huts, and carry off fowls and ducks, -which they
cooked forthwith, without even plucking. They have a prac-
tice of acting in this way whenever they have a Siamese
mandarin over them. We had made a rule to pay om- boat-
men, and always to leave behind us better souvenirs than
the functionaries of the court of Bangkok, and, therefore, put
a stop to these depredations — a step which astonished the<^
spoilers and spoiled alike profoundly. Mandarins with tufted )
beards, who did not chew betel, who had no women, who i
paid for forced labour, and prohibited stealing — such a thing i
v^as never known. We imited all these wonders, physical
and moral. At first, every one laughed to hear such tales ;
but, on reflection, we seemed less ridiculous, especially to
the chicken-breeders. This good name helped us ; the doors,
instead of being shut at our approach, were thrown wide for
our entrance, every one brought what he had to sell, and
the scruples of om- conscience served the interests of our
stomach.

At last we saw, before us, like Colossi ready to bar our
way, the mountains of Bassac. They stood out black against

60 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

the purple sky, while the tops still reflected the last beams
day. We reached our first station in Laos, where we wi
to wait for the letters, which were to be sent from Pekin
Saigon since we started, and for the last French posts. ^
had had a great deal of sickness among the members of 1
commission and the ranks of the escort, but our numb
were still complete. Sinister predictions had not been re
ised, and we all, in our confidence, felt a new zeal. It woi
have been a mistake to have set out, on chance, with(
having in our hands passpoi-ts which might, indeed, prove
no use, but the want of which, on the other hand, we mif
one day repent bitterly. It was necessary, therefore, to wi
and make ourselves as comfortable as possible, in anticipat:
of a stay of three months.

Bassac was formerly the capital of the Laotian monarc
the nearest to that of Cambodgia, and freed itself from i
pendence on the latter only during last century. Accordi
to vague information gathered on our way, important ru
still remained to attest the rule of the Khmers. Our fi
care was to be taken to see them. After two hours' mai
thi'ough rice-fields, we came upon a rectangular piece
water, the longest face of which measured about six hundi
metres. This regularity indicates, beyond doubt, the ha
of man; but we already knew our Laotians too well to at
bute to them the formation of this petty lake, admira
placed at the foot of the motmtains, which were reflected
its tranquil waters. It could be nothing but a relic of •
past. Indeed, at some metres from the west comer we fou
hidden by tufts of bamboos and thick shrubs, the steps
a monumental staircase, on the platform of which a Ic
avenue opened, on which a thick coating of soil coverei
paving of flags. MonoKth columns, ending in the form c
miti-e, stood at the two sides, and it led to the foot of a vi
high stah-, in good preservation, but very steep, like th
at Angcor. A terrace surrounded by balustrades crowi
this first flight, from which a series of staircases, with la:
ings, and broken by large ten-aces, following the inchnat
of the ground, led to a sanctuary which was a real bi
enshrined in the mountain. The stone is dug out to a de]
which gives the subjects chosen an admirable relief, wl

RUINS. 61

the sliarpness of tlie edges shows a wonderful precision of
chiselling. The art of ornamentation has rarely been pushed
farther.

The whole is more injm-ed by time and vegetation than
what we had seen at Angcor ; but there are parts as com-
plete and perfect as on the first day. The site which has
been chosen for it must have added to its splendour, and,
indeed, does so even yet. From the foot of the mountain
the structures rise, little by little, in a straight line, to where
the roUing outline of the ground stops abruptly at a huge
wall of rocks, against which the sanctuary is, as it werft set
back to back, at about 150 metres above the level of the lake.
These rocks, the tops of which are covered with, ti-ees, are
of a striking form. Covered in some places with red paint,
over which the piety of the faithftil has fastened leavefe of
gold in honour of Bouddha, opening in gaps, rough, with
murmming springs trickling from them, they are. imperishr
\ able and sad witnesses of the lost splendour of the temples,
, which seem to have come out of their sides. We found some
statues, but they were very poor. The Khmer artists, while
incomparable in creating the plan of a huge buildmg, Or
spreading over each stone of a wall a marvellous lace work,
did not know how to copy the hunian body. Without rer
quiring them to attain our ideal, realised in Greek art, we
j might ask that they should have tried to imitate the forms
\ imder their eyes ; but they have done just the reverse. The
. stifihess of the limbs and of the body, the awkwardniess of
the postures, the coarseness of the features — in a word, the
exaggeration of every physical imperfection — make gross
caricatures of nearly all these statues. Nothing more pain-
fully surprises the visitor of these ruins than to see a bas-
' relief of some hiunan figure, grotesquely carved, in the midst
of arabesques of the most exquisite finish and pei-fection.
Singular fact ! — aU the living creatm'es seem drawn in rough
outline, and share this defect in common. The elephant
alone is finished in better style. "VMiether it be in little or
J of natural size, the centre of a medallion, or carved on the
basement of a building, where it has the appearance of bear-
ing the weight, it is always found as in natm'e — terrible in
its strength, charming in its gentleness; man, who has

62 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

made a god of it, seeming to have forgotten himself in hand-
ing its image to posterity.

Behind a screen of tufted trees we found two monuments,
pendents of the two sides of the avenue, at the foot of the
peristyle which leads to the sanctuary. They were perhaps
palaces inhabited by pious kings, who wished to have a
temple near their dwelling.

On the left of this collection of buildings are others, half
ruined, which were, according to the tradition of the coun-
try, the abode of Sita, perhaps the wife of Rama, the hero of
the Ramayana. It is useless, on this point, to ask the least
explanation from any of the people of the country, cleric or
laic. All that they know about it is, that Sita had two sons,
two brother-enemies, who, not contented with having spent
their lives in bloody combats in the mountains, come still to
disturb the quiet of these ruins. Woe to him whom unwise
curiosity makes the witness of this duel of ghosts ! The
Laotians, who guided us, advanced with awe, prostrated
themselves at each step, and laid dry leaves on some holj
stones, lest the terrible brothers should roU some head of a
piUar or some mass of rock on us. These monuments, whicl
bear the name of Vat-Phou — the Pagoda of the Mountain-
are the last we met in the valley of the Mekong which coulc
be assigned to Cambodgian architecture.

It was September, the season of the heaviest rains. The
mountains were always enveloped in clouds, and sometimes
though they were very near us, the mist so completely hie
them, that no one would have suspected their existence. Fo:
the most part they were seen darkened by the woods tiha
covered them, with white vapom-s gliding along their side
like smoke, and losing themselves in the spray of the cascade:
which feU down their heights. The rice-fields were filled witl
water, and we had to let this deluge pass away before W'
could attempt some excursions we had planned. We wer^
blockaded in a dark hut, into which the light of day hardl;
penetrated at noon. To make up for these troubles, how
ever, we were on an excellent footing with the governor o
Bassac, who had retained the title of king, — ^with the authc
rities, and the inhabitants of the cotmtry. We dined in th
town, and at the com-t itself, and our stomachs, become accom

A LAOTIAN DINNER. 63

modating, allowed us to do honour to these feasts, of which
boiled pork formed the base. We ate, for politeness, the most
Laotian dishes, such as bamboo-stalks seasoned with pimento,
duck-eggs salted; all this minced small, and served in a great
number of bowls, placed on the gi-ound on a mat. Water
and rice-brandy (a sickening liquor, so strong as to destroy
the taste), are put into the strangest collection of dissimilar
phials, pickle-bottles, and toilet-vmegar flasks, brought with
all care from Bangkok. A cousin of the king did us the
honour to admit us to his intimacy, opened his heart to us
little by little, and ended by complaining bitterly that Ms
light to the throne had been contemptuously cast under-
foot.

We enjoyed here, in truth, a double prestige. To our
title of Europeans, which of itself would have been enough
to secure us respect, we added the dignity of protectors of
Cambodgia, and that served us to admiration. It was known
that we had dared to dispute with Siam, and that we had
driven her off. Every one wished to see M. de Lagr^e, the
conqueror of Phnea-rat, of whom the great mandarins had
heard speak during their annual journey to Bangkok. If
we had had a liking for getting up intrigues, or if we had
been ordered to prepare for annexations, it would have been
easy to work on the feelings which cropped out in certain
personages. But we had no such design. We wanted to
profit by our forced stay at Bassac, only by making friends ;
our hut, open to all comers, was the rendezvous of the curi-
ous, and the Laotians never abused our confidence. Honest
by nature, they have laws which severely punish thieves. I
had the opportunity of seeing them enforced. The criminal,
seated on the ground, his neck held tightly squeezed in a
vice, and his Hmbs stretched out to the utmost by rough
cords, received ten blows of a rattan on the back, each cut-
ing the flesh. They told me, that to be condemned to fifty
Wcis equal to death; and I can readily believe it, after seeing
the effect often. Before striking, the executioner gathers
himself up, as if penetrated by the importance of his social
mission, and bows profoundly in the direction of the king's
palace. The task finished, he invites the sufferer to lie on
his belly, and helps him with good-will, by pressing his foot

64 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

on the bleeding flesh, to give a little elasticity to the mus-
cles, contracted by pain. Punishments of this kind are not
resei-ved for criminals only. They are used also to force
confessions; and I could not recall without a shudder, on
seeing such sights, the fact that the question "was in use
among ourselves less than a hundrfed years ago. When one
finds among peoples rightly called barbarous, customs allowed
by our fathers, such as the question or the ordeal, which also
I saw in use at Bassac, pride of race presently vanishes, and
one of the best fi-uits of travel is proved, beyond doubt, to be
a respect for humanity.

CHAPTER II.

STAT AT BASSAO. EXCURSION TO ATTOPEE. THE FORESTS.
SAVAGES AND ELEPHANTS. WE LEAYE BASSAO. TJBONE.

It is with civilisation as with health; one must feel the want
of it before he knows its value. To sleep on a bed and to
eat bread are very vulgar delights, seldom awanting, thank
God, in Europe, even to those least favoured by fortune; and
hence we do not reaUse the part they play in the happiness
of life. Yet, after some weeks of wonder, and almost of
pain, you feel the body bend, little by little, to new habits;
but the privations, which each day made more grievous to us,
in our sad camp at Bassac, were of another kind: we lived,
forced back on ourselves, awaiting the end of the rainy sea-
son, without books or newspapers, at the time when, behind
the illusions which flew away, and in place of the dream
, which faded of^ nothing was seen but the austere forms of a
i painful duty. The first fine days would, however, allow us to
1 seek, outside, that food of curiosity which is the one thing
^- which can bear up the traveller ; and when they came at last, I
hailed them as the prisoners of the Ark might have done the
j end of the deluge, only they had been better housed than we.
) Since the 26th of October 1866, the river had fallen six

i metres from the highest level it had reached. The immense
lake that separated us fi:om the mountains was nothing more
than an ocean of mud ; but this slime, at first fetid, was soon
dried and hardened by the sun, and we were then able to
take extended rambles round our hut. The town stretches
I along the banks of the river, on both sides of the royal
dwelling. The narrow road that ran through it was, as yet,
{ no better than a slough. The inhabitants had taken the
! trouble to lay trees of different sizes, from the thick palm
i to the slender bamboo, side by side in the mud, so as to form

F

6Q TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

a causeway, along wliicli one could walk, though not without
difficulty. The houses, which are not inelegant, aud are
solidly built, are almost aU double. They consist of two
huts of the same size, put side by side, or united by a terrace.
The cabbage-palms, which shade them, give the whole town
the look of a grove planted with slender and beautiful trees.
At every step you meet little obscure sanctuaries, where
huge statues of Bouddha receive the daily homage of bonzes.
When I think that I am in a capital where the descendant
of the ancient kings still resides, I feel myself overcome by-
sadness in visiting these ruined temples. The palace itself is
nothing but a set of thatched huts, surrounded by a wooden
fence. A steep stau- leads to the royal terrace, and one gets
to it over a shaking causeway of trunks of trees of unequal
sizes, thrown down on the mud. The king has preserved no-
thing of the power of his ancestors but an empty title; and
were it not for the gold basket, ewer, and spittoon, which
some chamberlains carry behind him, he would not be taken
for more than a simple governor. These utensils hold the
place of badges and ribbons at Laos, and are provided by the
king of Siam himself, in gold, silver, or copper, according to
the rank of the functionaries. They make both langoutis, and
silk and gold robes of ceremony, at Bangkok, as well, and send
them to the principal personages. The king of Bassac is a
young man of distinguished manners, and a pleasing but
rather sad countenance, as suits the scion of a decayed race.
Norodom, with his accustomed stupidity, had called him a
man of the woods, but there were no grounds for saying so.
His enemies accuse him of despising the customs and op-
pressing the people, but it is not his Cambodgian majesty
who has the right to call such things crimes.

The kingdom of Bassac has always played a very subor-
dinate part. It was too near a powerful neighbour ever to
have been able to seciure a great importance to Laos. The
Dutchman, Gerard van Vhusthorf, who partly ascended the
river in 1641, does not even mention this principality, the
capital of which, at that time, was at a place called, now.
Muong-Cao, not far from the present town. The kingdom
of Bassac was then, in truth, only a Cambodgian province
Freed, a century later, this unfortunate kingdom was nol

ETHNOLOGY OF LAOS. 67

long in again losing its independence. It has been absorbed,
as the last wrecks of Cambodgia were threatened to be, by
the younger and more vigorous power of Indo-China. When
one sees the striking resemblance between Laotian and Si-
amese civilisation, and the almost complete identity of the
two languages, it is evident that a recent conquest could
not have brought about such a result, and that a common
origin must be ascribed to the populations grouped on the
borders of the Meinam and the Mekong. Perhaps we might
go farther, and look on the Burmans, settled in the valleys of
the Irawady and of the Salwen, and the Cambodgians, estab-
lished at the mouths of the Mekong, as two branches sepa-
rated from the same trunk. In their migrations, the members
of this great family must have left India by the moimtains
of the north-west, and would be guided to the south along
the com-ses of the great rivers which furrow Indo-China.
Wandering for a long time, they would still preserve in their
characteristics the marks of their parentage, modified by the
influences immediately affecting them. The Cambodgians
and Laotians speak languages, the mechanism and genius
of which, if not the very words, are identical. M. Aubaret
remarks that the Cambodgian language is written in the
characters of the Pali language, while the Siamese and Bur-
man characters differ from it a little, although belonging to
the same type. He adds, that the Bouddhism practised in
these three countries is exactly the same as that of Ceylon,
and this may also be said of that which flourishes in Laos.
It may be understood from this, how the most ambitious of
the Indo-Chinese powers had the opportunity of definitively
assimilating to itself all these populations, from the one fact
that it was the strongest. It found the most of its laws
and customs, already, in vigour, among the conquered.

The religion which has impressed on the architecture of
these countries a uniform character, has laid hold on all the
manifestations of life. The feasts take place at the same
time in all the countries bordering on the Mekong, and have
the same half religious, half profane features. During our
stay at Bassac, we saw the bonzes, one morning, collecting
in the open green of the village, and directing their course
to the king's palace. Each year, on the same day, a new

68 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

robe is given tliem. M. de Lagrde, -wishing to connect the
Commission with this pious gift, caused two copper candle-
Eticks to be carried to the throne-hall, where the clergy
were assembled. They were accepted with great demon-
strations of pleasure. The officiating ministers of the two
principal pagodas, forgetting the gravity of their character,
tried each to get them for himself; but the king, who had
to intervene, decided that each of the pagodas should get
one.

Dm-ing the day, magnificent regattas excited a real in-
terest. The canoes, belonging to pagodas, and buUt ex-
pressly for these nautical jousts, were adorned with flags, sup-
plied with a primitive orchestra, of drum, tom-tom, and bam-
boo organ, and manned by vigorous fellows, who came to
sustain the honour of their parish. The longest, which was
twenty-six metres, was hollowed out of the trunk of a single
tree, and was made for sixty rowers. The crew was composed
entirely of savages, all tributaries of the king of Siam, and
living within the limits of Bassac. Dressed in a morsel of
cotton check tied round the loins, they, yet, seemed to give a
good deal of work to the women, each weai-ing, for orna-
ment, a white crown, worked by them in leaves of maize,
which showed off their black and silky hair. . Three young
savages, dressed in red, with red cowls, like the old court
fools, set up an unknown fantastic dance in the midst of
their brothers bending to the paddles. As their feet could
not leave the bottom of the canoe, the steps had to be ex-
changed for contortions of the arms and haunches, mingled
with obscene gestures, performed in cadence, and much
relished by the rest. After the races, the wrestlers enr
tered the lists before the tribune of the king. With small
heads and huge chests, such as we see in the representa-
tions of combatants armed with the cestus, they made provok-
ing feints long before they darted at each other. At last,
springing together, they rolled in the dust, before the eye
cotdd follow them. The king gave each of them a tical —
a little less than three francs — and was pleased to receive,
afterwards, the presents in kind which all the great person-
ages -offered him, according to custom. These wrestlers,
or rather boxers, for they do not spare blows, are forced to

LAOTIAN FESTn'ITIES. 69

tliis rough service. I am not sure about Bassac; but I knoTv,
in Cambodgia, one village which has to furnish, for its
forced labour, royal elephant-drivers, and another which has
to supply BO many boxers. At night, rockets were let off
on all sides, and bamboos charged with powder made loud
reports. Floating lamps, left to the stream, sparkled over
the water like fallen stars, and great fire-rafts, real fire-
ships, descended without a pilot, wheeling round at each
eddy. Inside the huts, numerous parties, stimulated by
copious draughts of rice-brandy, listened to singers brought
in by the master of the house, who accompanied themselves
on a bamboo organ, and a monochord lyre. The Laotians
have a nmnber of ancient songs, but the troubadomrs most
frequently delight their audiences by improvisations. The
circumstances and the persons present furnished subjects,
and, now gay and satirical, now romantic and tender, they
had something for eveiy one in the circle round them. Fer-
tile in imagination, and almost beyond tiring, their voice
fails sooner than their inspiration. They take part in all
public feasts, as well as in all private rejoicings. I have seen
one of these poets of love, in an address to a young girl,
begin in accents the sweetest, most discreet, and most
chaste, gradually kindling, till, as he ended, he reached ex-
pressions so pointed that she ran off blushing. Vocal and
instrumental music seem in their infancy. In our Eiu-opean
ears all the airs seemed to be the same monotonous reci-
tative, ending uniformly in prolonged notes. But the people
of the country do not think so ; they can readily tell the
difference between any two singers or performers.

Next day the savages had got back to then* forests,
where we proposed to visit them; the town resumed its
wonted quiet ; and the court went into mourning, the king
having lost a great mandarin, his relation, in the night.
This respectable personage had called in the medical man
of the expedition; but the bonzes having'persuaded him that
the remedies prescribed were contrary to the sacred rites,
he left himself piously to die. A funeral pile having been
built for him, with great pomp, behind the royal pagoda, the
bonzes arrived, riding astraddle the coffin, which was covered
with flowers, and with ornaments in wax. When they had

70 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

got off, the bier was placed on the top of the wood, and
each approached to apply the fire. The flames, laying hold
of the dry wood, rose crackling. The crowd, however, found
the eight too tedious ; and the bonzes, well-nigh dnink, set-
ting the example, the assistants provided themselves with
bamboos, and set themselves to stir up the furnace, attack-
ing the coffin itself, which, being almost burned, burst open.
The muscles of the body contracting with the fire, I saw
the two hands rise towards heaven in the midst of the
flames. This dismal spectacle appeared to give great amuse-
ment to the Laotians. I found nothing the day after, where
the pyre had been, but some ashes, and a few whitened
bones. The ravens flew in circles above, cursing, in their
hoarse language, the dogs, which they hindered from ap-
proaching. This kind of ' interment' is reckoned as of the
fijst class, and it is not every one who can hope for it : the
poor and the unknown are simply put some inches deep in
the ground.

We had entered the month of November ; the river was
sinking daily, and the banks were fringed, as far as we
could see, with a long border of white sand. The perpetual
mists of the rainy season gave place to a transparent curtain
of vapour. While w^e were inhaling with delight the cooler
breezes of night and morning, the natives were shivering
imder their cloaks. Covered by these large cloth mantles,
with floating folds, and of brilliant colours, the Laotians jus-
tified the opinion of their elegance, which they enjoy even
in Cochin-China. We rejoiced in the changes brought on
by the approaching winter — a season so mild as to remind
us of om- summers in Europe. Our strength returned as the
leaves fell, and we resolved on two excursions.

The courier from France and the passports fi-om Pekin
had not yet arrived. M. de Lagree ordered M. Gamier to
descend the river as far as Stung-Treng, where we hoped
he would meet a messenger. The chief of the expedition.
Dr. Joubert, and myself, made ready to start for Attop6e.
This point, which is situated on the stream which flows
into the great river at Strmg-Treng, is a kind of advanced
post, in the country of the savages of the west. The La-
otians have a repugnance to going there, pretending that

BOUDDHIST WORSHIP. 71

mortal fevers decimate tlie caravans, and the Cliinese mer-
chants, established at Bassac, loudly confirmed this, by
adding that none of them would dare to go to seek in that
province for the gold it produces in abundance. But God
only knows what a Chinaman would not risk to get any
profit I We listened to all which their sincere interest in
us led these brave people to say; but at Cambodgia they
had said of Laos,, in general, all that they repeated here
about Attop^e, and we fancied we had acquired the right
to be sceptical ; and set out in two canoes furnished us by
the king's order.

After having ascended the Mekong for some hours, we
halted for the night in the pagoda of Vat-sei, where a hearty
reception awaited us, for, without knowing it, we were bene-
factors of the establishment. Vat-sei had obtained one of the
candlesticks lately given by M. de Lagr^e. Our mats were
spread upon the flags of the sanctuary, and we were lulled
to sleep by the sound of evening song, the psalmody of which
was in general monotonous, but sometimes interrupted by a
shrill note, a kind of yell, which gave a strange character to
these prayers, so unintelhgible to us, and no less so to most
of those who recited them. Side by side -with some passages-
in modern language, their breviary contains a great number
of pages written in Pali ; and the bonzes read these -without
knowing the meaning, as some ladies in France read an
office in Latin, mechanically. The religious Bouddhists do
not, however, on that account fail any the more to meet
each evening, with edifying regularity, to prayers. We have
often slept in a caravanserai, which was at once the house of
God and of travellers, and they never failed to give us the
favour of an anthem. The bonzes might set an example
to many a chapter of canons.

Beyond the village of Vat-sei, the Mekong speedily con-
tracts. The mountains, whose base it washes, leave it no
more than three hundred metres in breadth. This sudden
strangling makes no apparent increase in the swiftness of
the current, but its depth becomes terrifying. Great apes
escorted us along the banks, and growled familiarly when
we threw them bananas. The Se-don, a pretty river, which we
entered after a day and a half's sailing, nms softly through.

72 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

a very garden. Plantations of cotton and tobacco, of gourds
and of batatas, into which flocks of wild pea-fowl come to
plunder morning and evening, surround huts hidden in high
tufts of bamboos. The king of Bassac had told us that a
letter from him to the village chiefs, preceded us, ordering
them to supply us with food and means of transport. This
letter of the king had not arrived. When the first rapids in
the river forced us to land, the subordinate authorities re-
fused to procure us elephants ; prayers, threats, the exhibi-
tion of the Siamese passport, were equally Tinavailing : a
regular order of the governor of the province was necessary.
Not to lose time, we set out on foot, after having dispatched
a com-ier to Bassac. We learned, after, that the functionaries
thus ill-disposed to us had suffered some days' severe punish-
ment in consequence. The look of the country was far from
corresponding to that which the narrow belt bordering the
river had led us to expect. It was covered with high under-
growth and woods, uncultivated, and generally uninhabited.
It is almost always thus in Lower Laos.

Beyond the first fall of the Se-don, a cataract of about
fifteen metres and very beautiful, the river becomes navig-
able again, and we hastened to take advantage of it. The
echo of our anger of the day before had preceded us to the
villages, and they put canoes at our disposal, without even
asking us to show our papers. We thus passed the bounds
of the territory of Bassac, and reached the borders of the pro-
vince of Kantong-niai, where we found comfortable lodgings
prepared for us. The governor of Kantong-niai was a little
old man of about sixty-five, with a bad, not to say a wicked,
face. He read the Siamese letter, copied it, and put a thou-
sand ridiculous questions about France to us, before he would
aUow us to continue our journey. We were expected with
impatience in the next province, that of Simla. They led us,
on our arrival, to a charming hut, made expressly for us, of
bamboos and leaves still quite fresh. The children and
women, who made a hoHday to see us, had advised this
attention, in the hope of keeping us at least a whole day ;
but we had become used to having a heart wholly immov-
able, and took only two hours' rest with them. The autho-
rities, cheated in their curiosity and wounded in their self-

LAOTIAN SAVAGES. 73

love, carried our little baggage, but left us to get on on
foot, in spite of oui- protestations. The soil is stei-ile, the rock
showing itself everywhere under it, and yields only a scanty
growth, soon burnt up by the sun. At noon the heat was
overpowering ; I felt as if needles of fire were running into
my brain, and bringing on a continual giddiness. We could
breathe only in the evenings and mornings. One night the
thermometer had fallen to twelve degrees above zero, and
we awoke shivering with cold.

Some isolated rice-fields, in burned parts of the woods, cul-
tivated by the savages, were to be seen here and there. To
protect themselves firom the wild beasts, the proprietors of
these miserable fields have chosen to live fifty feet up in the
air. They have built gray huts, which look like huge nests
of birds of prey, on the tops of the great trees, in part
stripped of their branches. They get at them by long ladders,
narrow and bending. In walking across this wretched
country, we cam^ on a troop of buffaloes. At sight of the
French flag, can-ied by a native, they moved, and presently
made ready to chai'ge us, as we were hurrying to hide the
colours from their sight ; yet they are far less wild in Laos
than in Cochin-China. In our colony, even close to Saigon,
the sight of a Frenchman exasperates them, as if they re-
sented the conquest more than the Annamites themselves.
J The Laotians every moment refused to go farther. We had
3 to drive them on. They are, however, able to make long
J journeys a-foot, only time is of no value to them. They like
\ to lie down, as often as may be, at the side of a brook, to smoke
■( a cigarette, or chew a quid of betel. To go on without stop-
i P™g> 3,s we made them, was contrary to aU their habits ; and
they showed it by grumbling, by tricks always bafiled, and by
lies always discovered, which they renewed none the less
with an obstinate candour, in hope of getting a halt in the
long-run.

Saravane, the chief place of a third province, is seen
from a distance by the projecting angles of the triple roofs
of its pagodas. Savages were busy making ready lodgings
for us ; two houses were abeady finished, and we relie^d
them firom making any more. As great mandarins never
travel without a numerous suite of men, women, and ele-

74 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

phants, the governor expected to see 150 Frenchmen be-
hind us, and caused barracks to be prepared for them. The
modesty of our escort, — a modesty in keeping vnth the
slenderness of our resources, as well as of om- habits and
tastes, — alv7ays astonished our hosts, and often made them,
at first, doubt our rank. The village was agreeably situ-
ated on the borders of the Se-don, and shaded by a crowd of
great trees regularly planted. The houses were numerous,
and in good condition ; but what surprised us most, was to
find, in this hidden corner of the Siamese possessions, such
a pagoda as we had not met since leaving Cambodgia. It
was built of bricks, whitewashed, and covered by several
roofs, one over the other. The fafade, a Httle contracted,
was approached by a porch sustained on four slender pillars
of unequal height, and united a-top by a festoon carved in
wood. Farther on, in the middle of a little pond, rose, on
piles, a email building of the same style, covered outside
with gilding. It was reached by a long wooden causeway,
a little out of repair, the last plank being removed by de-
sign. This mysterious sanctuary, which the bonzes made
great difficulty of letting us enter, was the library of the
sacred books. Their books were there, ranged on rich
shelves, in elegant cases, which, again, were covered with
silk, and slept in undisturbed repose — for not one of these
rehgious could decipher the Pali text, though they paid it
such profound respect — the water, which bathes the feet of
their palace, preserving them from the two great scourges
of the country, water and the white ants. In the villages
of these countries, the pagodas, built of brick, show oiFwith
an air of relative richness and soKdity over the wooden huts
which surround them. Built in the middle of a great yard,
they seem to keep profane habitations at a distance. It is
always near them, one finds the best cocoa-trees, the highest
palms, the most flourishing cabbage-palms. In the shade
of these the bonzery shelters itself, and the children come
to learn to read and write. As in ancient Europe, culture
and teaching are in Laos the monopoly of the clergy. Litera-
tvLf^, properly so called, hardly exists, and one has finished
his studies when he has read a certain number of Bouddhist
books, and heard them explained.

BONZES. 75

The bonzes, who pass their whole life in the yellow
dress, subject to the austerities imposed by the rule, are not
numerous. Most of the young men who fill the pagodas
stay longer or shorter, as suits their convenience, but none
less than three months. This custom is followed by all who
respect themselves. The king of Cambodgia wears the
frock, and has his head shaved ; and the king of Siam, him-
self, enters religion before mounting the throne. I once
saw the son of a mandarin renounce the world for a time,
and greatly admired the facility with which he was admitted
into the convent. The postulant, clothed in white, followed
by his parents and his friends, presented himself before the
bonzes, sitting in council, and laid down those offerings
which are obligatory in a thousand cu'cumstances of life,
for procuring a prayer or a placet, or instead of cartes de
visite, — and form in this country a heavy tax on the poor.
The first thing to be done when an act of favour, or even of
justice, is desired Jfrom any one, be he chief of a village, a
great mandarin, the governor of a province, or the king, is
to send him a basket of poultry, or a quarter of buffalo or
of pork.

The bonzes, who live luxuriously on alms, have no in-
clination to lose the benefit of such a custom, and my novice
having complied with it, was received. In the examination
he had to imdergo, far greater concern appeared to be
shown for the health of his body than for the state of his
soul. He declared he had never been either insane or
leprous ; that he had the authority of his parents for what
he was doing ; and that he was provided with all that con-
stitutes the wardrobe or the furniture of aBouddhist monk —
a yellow firock, a mat, and a copper saucepan. This done,
the old man vanished, and the clergy who had assisted at
the transformation, bowed before the new phra — the saint
almost canonised. They henceforth spoke to him only in
words pitched on the key of the most extravagant hyperbole.
The yellow firock, so universally respected, inspires in
those who wear it — if only put on to-day, to be put off to-
morrow — a kind of fantastic insolence. The Bouddhist re-
ligious give their services to those who ask, and to those
who pay them, but they have no cure of souls. Without

76 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

responsibility to heaven, they are without love to their
neighbour. They abuse their numerous privileges, treat the
great of the earth almost as equals -with equals, and despise
the poor. Most of the young bonzes have a faculty of for-
getting the monastic rules, some of which, however, it must
be owned, are troublesome to excess. Bouddha prohibited
his disciples from touching a woman, from speaking to her
in a secret place, from sitting on the same mat with her,
or from going on a boat which carried one. Indeed, he so
dreaded the influence of the female sex on his religious, as
to interdict their use of a mare or of a she elephant when
they made a journey.

The Bouddhist calendar has a gi-eat many festivals.
Every one was keeping holiday at Saravane; and the
bonzes, whom the faithful are bound to feast on pain of loss
of salvation, made a long breakfast the day after we arrived.

In the afternoon a procession went several times round
the pagoda. It recalled the Catholic ceremonies of the same
kind BO thoroughly, as to make one forget himself. The
bonzes marched before, carrying emblems and banners ; the
laics came after; and, lastly, closing the whole, appeared
the women, in full dress and fuU chignon, their hands filled
with flowers.

We exchanged visits of ceremony with the authorities.
After the inevitable presentation of the letter fi-om Siam,
that magic talisman which opened every door to ub, the
governor promised to procure us six elephants, apologising
that he could not get more ; he was obliged to take away
five for his annual visit to all the pagodas of his province,
which would begin the next day. Six elephants were
enough for us. A kind of narrow and long seat, like a
child's cradle, set on several ox or deer skins, was kept in
its place on the back of our beasts by a strong surcingle of
rattan. When we left a village or came to one, we were
helped to mount or descend these living walls, by ladders ;
but it was difiierent when we had to halt in the forest. Some
of the elephants, very well trained, knelt at the word of com-
mand from the driver. It looked as if a hill had fallen in on
itself. Others were content to lift then- fore foot, so as to
form a kind, of stool, by means of which one could scramble-

ELEPHANTS. 77

into his place. The driver, astraddle on the necli of his
beast, let his legs hang behind the huge ears of the elephant,
which kept going all the time like huge fans.

A word was commonly enough to guide these intelligent
animals; but it was sometimes necessaiy to use an iron hook,
which was stuck into the skin of the head till it drew blood.
In leaving Saravane we twice crossed the Se-don, which
has very steep banks. Our elephants, to get down the high
sides of the river, had to trust themselves to an almost per-
pendicular path, hardly wider than their own feet. T\Tien
the soil was loose, they stiffened their legs before them, let
their hind legs di-ag, so that their thighs were on the ground,
and their belly not much above it, and slid to the very edge of
the precipice, without for a moment losing either their cool-
ness or their balance. When they emerged in this way
from a hollow, they looked like a huge block of rock which
had become detached and was in motion. We had seen
their strength before, but now admired their prudence. We
had to climb a dry watercourse full of rolling stones. They
scanned the huge tree above them, with its bare roots, or
the rocks overhanging them, and kept their eye on every
tuft of grass or grain of sand, never advancing a step till
they felt sure that the ground would bear them. In some
difficult places they took an hour to a kilometre ; but they
never stumbled once.

When the woods had replaced the rice-fields, we ceased
to meet villages at which to make our evening halts, and
it was necessary to carry provisions for several days. We
went along roads which no horse, however strong or active,
could have travelled, and our beasts performed wonders of
strength and cleverness. Reaching at last, after much toil,
the top of a steep ascent, we discovered at our feet, beyond
the foKage, a stretch of water, in which the mountains re-
flected their rounded summits. We took it for one of those
magnificent lakes, which are the ornament of vu-gin forests,
so often described ; but oui- Laotians undeceived us — ^it was
the river Attopee.

We had passed long days, formerly, at its mouth at
Stung-Treng, so that it was an old acquaintance, and we
wished to rest on its banks. The idea _of this halt was

78 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

pleasant, for several reasons. The motion of elephants is
very fatiguing. It is not strictly either rolling or pitching,
but a mixture of both these horrible things, complicated, on
the least sound, by a sudden and violent step backwards.
These animals, once tamed, if not specially trained for war,
are as timid as hares. I have been on one which, in spite
of its formidable tusks and huge size, shied at the sight of a
small dog. In the forest, which we had to cross to get to
the river's edge, they met more worthy objects of terror ;
for we passed the lair of a rhinoceros, and a tiger crossed
our path. We found ourselves, in fact, in a part abounding
with these ferocious beasts, and our guides seemed no less
terrified than the creatures they rode. M. de Lagr^e did
not the less give them the order to halt. We chose the dry
bed of a torrent, which pom's itself in the rainy season into
the river Attop^e, as our place of encampment. Our Lao-
tians, always willing to halt, resisted this time energetic-
ally, and only yielded when they had exacted the promise,
as impertinent as useless, that we would neither fight nor
swear, nor get into any noisy discussions. For greater se-
curity they also forthwith built a little altar to Bouddha,
with branches torn from the trees. All right with heaven,
they thought it well to take the steps which worldly pru-
dence dictated, and kindled huge fires roimd our camp.
We got under our shelter of leaves, necessary at this season
by the heaviness of the dews, and stretched ourselves on
om- mats, having primed ova arms afresh. As to our guides,
our drivers, and our baggage-carriers, they smoked their
cigarettes, and chatted in a low voice, but were too cautious
to close an eye. When, after a weary march, I recovered,
under the reviving influence of a cool night, entfre posses-
sion of myself, my thoughts turned sadly to France, from
which no whisper had reached us for six months. My wan-
dering life amidst silent forests, with every emotion quick-
ened by close contact with the greatness of nature, filled
me with unknown joys, and kept off those tortures of un-
certainty about friends and country, which were daily be-
coming more keen. But while I tried to watch the stars
twinkling through the interlaced branches of the gourbi, 1
saw all the evil phantoms which, under the horrid forms ol

FOREST TRAVELLING. 79

war and death, had, perchance, in a half year, humbled
France, and ravaged my paternal hearth, pass before my
eyes like nightmares. The courier, who was close at hand,
brought us the news of Sadowa.

Notwithstanding the fears expressed the day before, the
night passed without any alarm. Next day, the forest became
extremely difficult of passage. The tracks made by the wild
elephants crossed each other, Tindef the bamboos, which
made an impenetrable tangle, bristling with prickles, between
the trees. Our elephants showed wonderful cleverness in the
fatiguing work of breaking through this jungle, tearing down
branches of trees in the way, twisting them off with their
trunks, or crushing them under their feet. Each, in its turn,
took the head of the column, and obeyed the word of com-
mand of the driver as exactly as if it imderstood his lan-
guage. If a great tree stopped our course, the elephant
leaned its huge forehead against the trunk, and presently,
without any apparent effi)rt on its part, the tree bent, the
roots started from the ground, and it lay stretched on the
earth, trampled down at last by the huge feet of the ani-
mal. If one of the huge creepers, which hung from the
trees, threatened to hurt one of us whom it happened to
carry, the elephant would draw this immense cable to it, tear
it off, breaking it as a child would a thread, and would not
go on till it had opened a wide passage for itself and its
charge on its back, whose height above it, it seemed to have
measured. Our beasts had to toil thus for several days to-
gether. Laborious and gentle, they never showed ill-humour,
except when the drivers, not thinking it enough to shackle
them, thought it necessary to tie them up as well. This
happened at every halt in these districts, frequented by numer-
ous troops of wild elephants, which, as the drivers wiU have
it, blushing for then- race at the sight of their fellows enslaved,
never fail, when they come on them, to break their bonds,
and force them to join them and renew their wandering lives
in the depths of the boundless woods. Our animals, angry,
and in a pet, beat their trunks against the ground with
a loud noise, or uttered cries not unlike the soxinds a bad
player makes on a hunting horn. Then- Ul-will always ended

80 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

with this, however, as if it were a faint protest against their
ill-usage.

We at last reached the edge of the forest, and saw in the
distance a chain of bare mountains. It is the high natural
barrier which has prevented the Annamites spreading them-
eelves over Laos, and has kept them penned up on the sea-
coast. We had reached the point where the river Attop^e,
which probably has its source in these mountains, begins to
be navigable. A large village stands at this spot, and we took
twenty-four hours' rest in it. A Siamese mandarin, a tax-
collector, who happened to be there at the time, hastened to
pay us a visit, and was very grateful for an earthenware
pipe, with the head of a Zouave for bowl, given him by the
head of the expedition. The river Attopee is very pretty,
and recalls some rivers of France. It flows rapidly through
vast and magnificent forests. Our light canoes, borne noise-
lessly on the stream, did not alarm the wild animals, which
came to the banks of the water for coolness and shade. The
wild boars, the deer, but, above all, the pea-fowl, revived our
taste for the chase ; and our table, so often bare, would some-
times have roused the envy of knights of the middle ages.

The river Attopee had been described to us as another
Pactolus. Gold is, certainly, found in its sand and on its
banks, but the search for it has been left to the savages. I
went to see a little improvised village of the unfortunates
who follow this branch of industry on a sandbank, just left
dry. They lodge in bamboo huts about twice the size
of large dog -kennels, which they pretty closely resemble.
Each of these cabins is the home of a family. Several gene-
rations of women were crouched in them, from the old crea-
ture, whose long white hair fell over her hoUow cheeks and
meagre shoulders, to the little daughter, who peacefully
sucked the plump breast of its mother amidst her half-
alarm at our visit. There were no men to be met vrith,
such as we saw at a distance instantly hurrying away when
they noticed us. Wishing to see other camps of these wild
people, we took a stroll into the country, under the guidance
of a Laotian.

M. de Lagree was now struck by one of those attacks of
fever, which begin by freezing the blood in the veins, and

A FOREST VILLAGE. 81

end by making it bm-n like fire. We at once proctu-ed from
a neighbom-ing village some felt coverlets, cloaks, and lan-
goutis, and whatever might help to restore heat in his
chilled body ; and after two hom-s of mortal anxiety, we
were able to assm-e ourselves that his strong constitution
would get him over the danger. We left him to rest, and
were fi'ee to continue our journey. We had to march a long
time through jungle, crossing broad and deep streams on
slender trunks of trees, which had no parapet but a yield-
ing creeper. A wretched caravanserai, bm-ied in the bushes,
showed us our journey was ended. There is not in these
countries a group often settlers which does not provide a
shelter for travellers ; hospitality being the first law in such
regions, as being the first necessity. Among the Laotians,
if there be no cottage for the purpose, the pagoda serves
for inn ; but there are no pagodas among the savages.
They believe in fairies and ghosts, which do not live in
temples. Kotmd the village to which we had come rose a
palisade, to keep off evil spirits ; but it would not have stood
a good kick from a man of flesh and blood. A bit of bamboo,
covered with writing and conjurations, hung over om- door.
The huts were ranged in a semicircle. We counted seventy
or eighty, all built upon the same plan, which was as simple
as could be imagined. They are two metres broad, and about
three deep, and two narrow and low doors correspond one
i to the other in the gables. These wi-etched dwellings are
/ perched on posts, which leave a commodious abode under-
neath the family to whom they belong, for fowls and pigs.
The women ran oS, at a signal from their husbands, so that
we found none but the old people. At the gold - seekers'
village we had seen them sitting sadly on then- doorsteps,
then- age making them look as if they no longer belonged
to either sex. The. men are, in general, well-grown and well-
made ; then projecting forehead set in a frame of long haii-,
which they leave to fall in confusion, or t^dst up behind
their head. The end of the nose comes very low, and the
nostrils are much raised. The Laotians, on the other hand,
have short snub noses, and would be less good-looking than
their tributaries, but for the true savage expression of these
poor people, seen especially in their wild fi-ightened looks,

G

82 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

as if they -were stupid vntli wonder. They have elegant
ways, however, which may be remembrances of some dis-
tant past. They wear bracelets of brass wire, and necklaces
of glass beads, and make holes in their ears large enough to
insert great cylinders of wood. This last custom prevails
also among the Laotians, but to a smaller extent. Formerly,
the most powerful king of Laos — the only one, indeed,
who really deserved the name — gloried in the extraordinary
diameter of these holes, made, little by little, in the lower
lobe of his ears. They begin by using a little gold bodkin,
which they let stay in the flesh for a month, introducing
others, larger and larger, successively, till they get the ends
of the ears to fall over the shoulders. The savages of to-
day no longer fear to indulge in a luxmy foi-merly reserved
exclusively to the king.

What is the origin of these tribes, which we found every-
where alongside the Laotians, thi'oughout the com-se of
the Mekong? In a journey so rapid as ours, it was im-
possible to study ethnography very deeply. To get at a
scientific conclusion, it wotdd have been necessary to live
a long time among them ; to gam the confidence of some
of the most intelligent, and to converse with them ; but we
had no such opportunity. We only passed through ; and,
besides, had no interpreter who knew their different idioms,
so that we can hardly venture even on a few conjectures.

The Laotians occupy only a naiTOw strip on the banks
of the river, especially on the left bank. Between then-
collages and the great mountain- chain which bounds the
Annamite empire, numerous tribes are scattered, from the
Tonkin to our province of Lower Cochin-China, some of
them including several encampments in then- tribal jurisdic-
tion. Those nearest the Laotians, who have likely enough
given sovereigns to Laos in some former day, have submit-
ted to the king of Siam, and pay him a light tribute. This
subjection, nominal, or nearly so, as it is, brings them some
very substantial advantages. They need no longer fear the
incursions of slave-traders, who di-ive a flom-ishing trade
with the independent tribes. In Cambodgia, and probably
also in Siam, as in Laos, there are several classes of slaves :
those who are slaves for debt, the slaves of the king, and

SLAVERY. 83

the slaves of pagodas. Slavery for debt is not, strictly speak-
ing, slavery ; it is a temporary loss of liberty. A^rhen any
one is unable to pay his creditor a sum due, he gives himself,
or one of his children, up to him. The slave's labour is reck-
oned equivalent to the interest on the debt ; but he is not
freed till the principal is paid up. If he is discontented Tvith
his master, he borrows money and repays him, passing by
this simple fact into a new ownership.

The king's slaves are really slaves, whether they have
been taken in war, or reduced to slavery by legal sentence.
Any one, pui-sued for a delinquency or a crime, who takes
refuge in a pagoda, is protected by the right of asylum, on
condition of becoming a slave, or rather a bonze, for life. True
slavery, in all the horror of the word — slavery simply from
being basely carried of, with no deliverance but by death or
escape — is inflicted only upon savages. These, trapped by
ambushments, or driven off like fallow-deer by the man-
hunters, are torn fi.-om their forests, chained, and taken to
the chief places of Laos, Siam, or Cambodgia. At Pnom-
Penh they are in especial demand, and are paid for more liber-
ally than Annamite or Cambodgian slaves. They are worth
800 francs there, while the Cambodgian is hardly worth
more than 500, and no more than 200 will be given for an
Annamite. The difference in the conditions of the slavery
has something to do with this difference in value ; but the
main thing which determines it is the degree of confidence
the master can put in the uprightness of the slave, according
to the race to which he belongs. The Annamites on the one
hand, and the Laotians and Cambodgians on the other, give
themselves up to this shameful ti-ade. "V^Tien I asked a man-
darin the worth of the chief articles of merchandise in his
village, he never failed, after mentioning rice, cotton, or silk,
to add the slaves, whose value fluctuates, like that of other
things, according to the law of supply and demand. Young
good-looking virgin gii'ls are sold to the rich men, who buy a
mistress for about the same sum as a pleasure-elephant costs.
Among the tribes which have preferred the chances of
their almost nomadic life to the security of an easy vassal-
age, some, become fierce, pursue strangers in their hatred,
and shoot them with poisoned arrows. On the left bank of

\

84 TRAVELS IX INDO-CHIXA.

the Mekong, as far up as Tonkin, the Laotians, though quite
convinced of their own superiority, confessed that a hundred
of them would not dare to face ten of these wild children of
the woods. In tlieii- turn, these use reprisals, and traffic, as
they have the chance, in the liberty of their enemies. • I have
seen an Annamite of the neighbom-hood of Tourane, who had
been taken prisoner by the savages of the hills, sold and
resold, till he became, at the end of the transactions, the
property of a Laotian mandarin. These tribes have many
names. In the lower and middle part of the basin of the
Mekong we meet tbeMo Is, the^S ames^^lTe^g'lnliabitants
of the Engdom-of-^siampa— and^rofessing the Mussulman
faith:: — the Stiengs, the Fenongs, tCe~Cuys7^ he'~t3faaTai s or
Giraies, &c. They are, perhaps, the old owners of the soil,
beaten, and driven into the woods, by the invaders established
on the banks of the great rivers and principal streams.

There are radical differences between the Cambodgian
or Laotian and the idioms of the savage tribes — idioms-
which seem connected with each other by striking features,
and by a general resemblance. According to the information
given M. Mouhot by the Stiengs, among whom he lived for
a time, the Chiames speak the Charai, and the Cuys speak
the same language as the Stiengs themselves. The tribes
which have submitted to Siam or Cambodgia have a rude
organisation, somewhat like what obtains in Laotian or Cam-
bodgian villages. Those, on the contrary, who have retained
their independence, practise absolute independence, and re-
1 cognise no chief. All live in a kind of communism, sharing,
; impartially, want or abundance, and show in this mistake,
j characteristic of children and savages, that want of foresight
l^ which is only one of the forms of absolute confidence in
"nature.

The Charais sun-ound two personages in their tribe with
veneration — the one enjoying the name of the King of Fire ;
the other, that of the King of Water. The fire-king is the
more important. A great rusty sabre, -without a sheath, is
his symbol of power ; and it is hard to tell whether the
homage is paid the man or his weapon. I am assured that
the kings of Cambodgia and of Cochin-China send him am-
bassadors periodically; and he is known and honoured by

THE INDEPENDENT TKIBES. 85

all the savage tribes to the very frontiers of China. A mis-
sionary, who wrote in the seventeenth century the history of
Tonkin, hesitates to include in the limits of that kingdom,
at the time when it embraced Cochin-China itself, the moun-
tain peoples who acknowledged the fire and the water
kings. Can we recognise, in this singular fact, the sign of
an ancient sovereignty, marking out still, after so many cen-
turies, the despoiled family of the old kings of Laos ? Does
the tribe of Charais, like that of Judah of old, hide in its
bosom some Joash? Without writings and fallen out of
memory, without history as without tradition, the savages,
whom we addressed in Laotian, understood little of our mean-
ing, and most commonly gave us no answer.

Attop^e, which we had reached, is no more than a very
poor village. It is one of the j)rincipjJ^.centres of the slave-
trade. I have seen boats, loadedjwith this miserable human
freight, descending the river, to getinto .the_lIekong,at Stimg-
Treng, and thence make for, Qaiobodgia.- The unhappy cap-
^tives"seemed more crushed by their gi-iefs than by the irons
that bound them. In the paths of their forests, fleeing at
the lightest sound, like wild deer, or crouching like fallow-
deer at the bottom of their bamboo hut, and trembling at
the sight of us, they seemed nearer the brute, in the scale
of being, than man. Here, on the contrary, immovable in
their narrow floating prison, letting their sad looks wander
as they might, they showed in their bearing that nobility
which hopeless misfortune, profoundly felt, everywhere im-
prints on the human figure. We ^my;,^oubtless, regret that
a public market for slaves^should be held at Pnom-Penh,
under tFe "shadow of om* flag; but_it^ust not be forgotten
that, as yet, we are only the protectors of Cambodgia. Om-
interference in the affaii'S of ttii country can only be exer-
cised with extreme caution, imder pain of creating perils for
ourselves. King Norodom himself must be got to suppress
this odious custom, consecrated by the practice of centuries.

The p eople of Attop^e melt the gold found in the -sands,
in little earth^_crjaables,-^ndl8inda jseriain jiumbjr_ofjthese
ingots annually to Bangkok.- They thus pay, in kind, their
dues "Iro'^iamT^Here^ again, one sees how the king of Siam
enriched himself while he affected to render a service. His

86 TRAVELS IN IKDO-CHINA.

armies drove off the bands of soldiers, who, rushing from the
Annamite mountains, threw themselves on Attopee at the
time of the revolt of the Taysons,^ and this province has
since been detached from Cambodgia.

We were in haste to get back to Bassac, and avail om--
selves of the precious months of the dry season, to continue
om- voyage towards China. Seven elephants awaited us
some hours below Attopee ; two of them were mothers, and
their young ones went with them. Sixty men were given
us, or rather were forced on us, as escort, for we were un-
willing to take so many from their homes and their occupa-
tions. But they told us thieves infested the woods through
which we must pass, and the governor was responsible for
om* safety. The jom-ney, it was said, would take five days.
We dived into the forests, making our way through a kind
of marshy flat, where the waters collected from the neigh-
bouring mountains. We had to cross a great many streams ;
some of them actual rivers, bearing no inconsiderable tribute
of waters to the Attopee. My beast divided its cares between
the serious difficulties of the route and its little one, which
it did not let out of sight for a moment, and it, frolicsome,
and cross as a child led for a walk against its will, roared
and stamped. At its cries the mother became indifferent to
the iron which the driver stuck into its head ; she stopped,
and tm-ned back to quiet her son ; when he wanted a drink,
nothing would induce her to take a step ahead ; and the
crafty thing chose always to ask the breast at the moment
when its mother, busy with the slope of a hill, was letting
herself slide down painftdly on her stomach. If the water
was too deep, she helped her little one with her foot and
trunk, keeping him on the sm-face. To the very last this
admirable animal never for a moment lost its coolness, but
discharged its duties as a mother with tenderness, and as
a beast of bm-den with conscientiousness. As to the males,
they are lavishly gallant. They hide their mysterioxis am-
ours in the depths of the woods ; but they do not the less,
on the march, use their- trunk for the most immodest sport.

^ Mountaineers famous in the history of Coohin-China. It was against
them that Gia-long asked and obtained help from Louis XVI. by the me-
diation of the Bishop of Adran.

RETURN' TO BASSAC. 87

After having met torrents of clear and running water in the
heart of the forest, we halted each night in the midst of
vast grassy glades, with a tainted pool in some central de-
pression, to which all the beasts of the Avoods came to
quench their thu'st, and wash. Our elephants found in such
places abundant pasturage, and it was necessary to think of
them.

At last we came to immense marshes, the country lay open
before us, and we, once more, distinguished clearly, after a
trip of thirty-two days, the tops of the Bassac mountains. An
odd-looking peak, like a woman's breast, stood out against
the deep blue of the sky, and we strained our eyes for long
before we could discover the flagstaff, which bore the French
flag, over our encampment. At the foot of these mountains
we should find ourselves reunited, should read the French
papers together, discuss the news, open our letters, and
draw fresh coiuage fr'om these last communications with onr
country. The fatigues, the fevers, which we had had to suffer
in crossing the woods and marshes, were all forgotten in the
first transports which this sight caused us. The disappoint-
ment we were to meet was all the more bitter. M. Gamier
had found neither message nor messenger at Stung-Treng.
The revolt of the Cambodgians cut off omr communications
Avith the lower part of the river, and troops had been sent
after us to bring us back. This report soon spread among
the Laotians of Bassac, who several times informed IDI.
Delaporte and Thorel, who alone, with a part of the escort,
remained in the camp, that the enemy was close at hand.
A sailor and a French soldier, tu-ed of the serious privations
which cu'cumstances imposed on us, had stolen some arms,
sown terror in the village, and refused to return to duty.
M. Delaporte had to go to the king, who armed twenty Lao-
tians with cudgels. Guided during the night by a complaisant
husband, these surprised the fugitives, whom we brought
back in irons. In spite of threats of invasion, of which we
were the cause; in spite of internal disorder, provoked around
him by the French, the king of Bassac did not cease to show
his hearty good-will to us. He knew our plans, realised our
embarrassment, and tried to lessen it. As to the Cambod-
gian rebels, — giving up their useless pursuit, they came no

88 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

farther tlian Stung-Treng, on the left bank of the Mekong,
and Tonli-Repon, on the right.

If we had expected only letters and papers, the not get-
ting them would, no doubt, have been a serious disappoint-
ment, but the success of the expedition would not have been
compromised. The impossibility of communicating, by the
river, with the French officer at Cambodgia threw us into
serious anxiety. It threatened to involve us in the most
disastrous consequences. We had no passports from Pekin ;
and to go without them, after om- recent experience, and
when it was clear that we could not have advanced a step in
the Siamese provinces, if we had not been able to show the
governors imperative commands from Bangkok, was to con-
demn ourselves to be stopped at the frontier of Laos. M. de
Lagr.6e, however, gave the order to prepare to leave Bassac,
resolved to make a new attempt to get the papers, which he,
like ourselves, thought indispensable.

The king redoubled his dehcate attention on learning
that we were about to leave Bassac. We presented him
with portraits of the Emperor and Empress, and he instantly
ordered them to be hung up on the walls of the gi"and pa-
goda. In the farewell visit we went to pay him he said a
thousand kindly things to us, which would in France have
been only polite commonplaces, but in his mouth were of
value. However little enthusiasm one may feel for savages
and half savages, they never say what they do not think. It
was a real pleasm-e to speak about France with this young
Laotian. He seemed struck with wonder at the narration of
the miracles effected by Em-op ean genius, and listened with
a simple confidence, thi-owing out embarrassing questions in
the middle of om- descriptions ; for it would have been diffi-
cult to have given him explanations he would have under-
stood. He made himself the mouthpiece of the regrets of
his capital. Our medical men were followed by the bows
and the gratitude of the sick whom they had attended.
Whole famihes carried offerings to the pagodas, that heaven
might be entreated to favom- their voyage, and to give them
a thousand years of Hfe. They had, in reaUty, distributed
some piUs, and struck the imagination by some happy ope-
rations. The bonzes, alone, concealed their dislike; for they

BURNED FORESTS. 89

had given up the sick persons, and a double hurt came from
these cm'es to them — the injmy to their prestige, and a
heavy loss to the pagoda. Ftmerals cannot be perfoi-med
■without largesses from the family, and the dead are never
better honoured than when the living feast round the funeral
pile.

The king came, himself, to accompany us to the beach,
where the boats he had caused to be made ready for us were
waiting, and we left in the last days of December. The
navigation had become easy ; the steep banks of the river no
longer presenting the same obstacles as at the commence-
ment of om* voyage. The trees and the shmbs, thi'ough the
middle of which we must have passed six months before,
were now ten metres above oui- heads. One of my rowers, to
escape his forced task, threw himself into the water, gained
the bank, and disappeared in the high undergrowth. The
unfortunate creature would only suffer worse troubles if he
were taken ; and if he escaped, his family would have to pay
for him.

Our flotilla stopped, and we went on foot to visit the
ruins of Muongcao, the ancient capital of the kingdom of
Bassac. The immense plain which we had to cross had a
desolate look, for the natives had set it on fire. The sun
scorched om- heads, and the still-glowing ashes bm-ned our
feet. Some half-burned trees, here and there, without leaves,
showed in this desert, like giants in mourning ; others, com-
pletely bm-ned through, lay on the ground ; and we could not
but regret the delightful shade they would have given us,
and denounce a barbarous custom, which destroys for the
sake of destruction. The Laotians sometimes burn parts of
the forest to make dry rice-fields, but they often do it to sa-
tisfy the instinct of devastation — an instiact which stupidly
spreads the ravages of fire over thousands of hectares. In
Cochin-China the French administi-ation has been forced to
take measures to protect the forests, which are one of the
chief sources of the wealth of the state. By these random
conflagrations the natives, without intending it, create im-
penetrable thickets of bamboos. This plant, thanks to the
vigorous roots it pushes into the ground, is the only one
that survives, and meeting no more obstacles or rivals,

90 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

ends by covering immense tracts, throngli which neither
men, "wagons, nor elephants can pass, except with extreme
difficulty.

There is not much of Muongcao : some parts of walls of
enclosures, some pagodas, a small slender pyramid, sculp-
tured like one of those gothic spires that decorate our cathe-
di-als, a fine wide street, and trees planted in order. The
Mekong at the place where we went on board again is cut
up by sandbanks. It makes a sharp elbow, which gives it
the appearance of a huge lake, shut in behind by a chain of
mountains of various heights, and curious shapes, bathed in
vapour. Some green islands rose fi-om the waters, which sur-
rounded them with a white girdle of foam. We had some
rapids to pass, thi-ough confused masses of piled-up sand-
stone, which looked like strange crouching monsters. The
river has marked on the polished sides of these rocks the
height of its periodical risings. The hills which vvux along
the river's edge are wooded; but the leaves had lost their
freshness, yellow spots shelving here and there on the green.
Presently, the Mekong contracted : on the right bank, which
we followed, the blocks of sandstone rose into a cyclopean
wall ; rocks encumbered the bed of the river, which at some
spots was of immense depth, the sounding-line finding no
bottom.

Six days after oiu- leaving Bassac we reached the entry
of the river Ubone, called Se-mun by the natives, which
seems only a bifurcation of the Mekong. This latter was
almost unnavigable as far as Khemarat, and M. Delaporte
was sent off, alone, on the difficult task of exploring it. The
bulk of the expedition turned to the west, and ascended
the river Ubone. We were told that we shoidd have ten
rapids to ascend, and, therefore, took a reinforcement of men
at the village ofPacmoun; a precaution, as it proved, by no
means tiseless. The river was very soon obstructed by a
huge bar of sandstone, twisted, worn, and overthrown by
the waters. The sandstone is perforated by holes as round
as if made by human hands, but caused dm-ing the floods by
whirlpools charged with flints. We had to carry all our
canoes over these obstacles, and to do this we had to unload
them completely. The sun heated the stones, and there

DIFFICULT TRAVELLIXG. 9 1

■was no shelter whatever from its rays, which were tenfold
hotter by the reflection. The men yoked themselves to the
canoes ; a singer roared verses at the top of his voice, a
long scream from the rest serving for refrain ; then came a
grand pull, and the bm-den moved forward a few paces.
The night had already long fallen, and the last canoe was
yet behind. Our natives had been a whole day in the
water, and after all this toil they had nothing to eat but a
little rice, and no bed but the hard stone. The fire, how-
ever, warmed them as it kindled, and kept up their spirits.

The river at this place is a torrent of about four hundred
metres in breadth. It is, however, very pictm'esque. The
banks are covered with trees. Near the water the under-
growth is of a fine green ; but on the higher level the yellow
and red leaves, hardly holding on to the withered trees, are
■ carried away by the lightest breath of wind. One sees
j just such landscapes in autumn in some districts of France.
Here, perhaps, it is a trifle wilder ; but there is nothing to
recall the tropics, except the sun. Om- canoes made no
more than three kilometres in twelve hom-s ; and while our
Laotians were dragging them, with great labour, in the
middle of the rapids, we set out to hunt in the forest, which
was inhabited by wild animals of all sizes and kinds, from
the tiger, the elephant, and the "wild boar, to the hare and
the goat. The banks of the river and the edges of the
Bmaller pools in the woods were marked by their footprints,
but we saw no more of them than this. All, alike, flee from
man, finding hiding-places in the impenetrable thickets and
the vast wildernesses. It would be necessary to study their
habits, and to sm-prise them by watching, and we had not
the time. Fishing was at once easier and more successful.
Fish is very abundant in the Ubone, and some kinds would,
beyond question, be thought delicacies iu Europe.

On the 3d of January 1867 we reached the foot of
the last rapid. Other boats were needed to come to our
aid, to get us over this bamer, and we halted till they
arrived. We paid our men at the rate of fom* sous a day ;
but, in spite of the fatigue they had had, these boimties
astonished them, and the report spread everywhere, as it
had done in the past, that we scattered gold with open

92 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

hand. Great trees protected us from the rays of the sun ;
the sound of the falling water — a little sad and monotonous
— harmonised with oiu- mood at the beginning of a new
year, and we rested om-selves quietly in our boats. These
Laotian canoes, naiTOw and long, covered with a low
rounded roof, look curious by night. When I could not
sleep, and saw before me only men, with shaved heads and
of strange figm'es, crouching and watching round a torch
which cast a flickering red light on them, I almost thought
myself carried away to the low-arched fosses of some town
on the Rhine. The windows had two square supports, and
I saw thi-ough them a corner of the sky, which, with the
water below, made the illusion still more complete.

We were near the village of Pimoun, which can hardly
be called one. Great plants, and trunks of trees cut off at
a man's height, still stood round the huts, and disputed the
space intended for Mtch en-gardens. The head of this strag-
gling infant place sent to the rice-fields for labom-ers liable
to forced work, and we quietly ascended the Ubone in new
canoes, finding it easily navigable to that town, where we
arrived on the 6th of January. Fifteen horses of the
country, hardly larger than the dogs of the Pyrenees,
waited us, saddled, beribboned, and with a silver ornament
on their forehead, outside the row of mandarins of every
grade, in full official costume, who had come to greet us.
In spite of all that might be imposing in Europeans with
great beards and soiled clothes, we felt a little put out by
the solemnity of such a reception; for our blue flannel frock-
coats, already threadbare and torn, contrasted too strongly
with the glory of robes of gold, and langoutis of silk, not
to give our self-love a real humiliation. It was not with-
out some sm-prise we found, ia the house which had been
made ready for us, a table covered with a white cloth, set
out with wine and finger-glasses, and with comfortable seats
round it. Calico hangings made a good imitation of plaster
ceiling. It looked as if we had been spirited away to a
farm in Normandy. Messengers fi-om the governor arrived,
in numbers, with presents.

All this showed that he was a man who had some ideas
of civihsation, and we hastened to pay him a visit with all

THE KING OF UBONE. 93

the ceremony vre could. The palace was like a bazaar, it
was so heaped up \dth looking-glasses, cloth, and European
carpets, recently brought from Bangkok. It tiirned out that
they -were intended to heighten the splendour of the coro-
nation fetes, at Tvhich we were present soon after. The
governor had, in fact, obtained the title of king. He be-
longs to the family of the princes of Vien-Chan, and having
been brought up at Bangkok since the conquest of this
kingdom by the Siamese armies, had done his best to gain
the favour of the ting of Siam, who had placed him at the
head of the province of Ubone. He told us naively, that it
was the grand presents he had made his sovereign that had
won him his good forttme. His countenance is not pleas-
ing ; he is of middle height, lean and angular, and his shin-
ing eyes throw every instant a yellow light over his cat-like
parchment-colom-ed face. He was, liowever, well enough
disposed towards us. In one of the excm-sions which we
made outside the town he ordered some men to foUow our
horses; and to be the more sure that nothing would hinder
their keeping up with them, they were forbidden to take
f their little bag of rice with them, the chief who went with
them being, moreover, required to give any of them a beat-
ing, if they felt hungry and let it be known.

The coronation ceremony was partly civil, and partly
religious. To reach the new palace which he had had built
(' for himself, the king crossed the whole plain where we were
/ encamped. Music opened the procession. Next came some
I cavaliers ; and behind them marched an imposing troop of,
; twenty-two elephants, between two files of Laotians armed
/ with lances, and carrying banners. On the back of the first
sat the king in a tunic of green velvet, with a crown like a
Prussian helmet, and protected by a great parasol of silver
thread. The people followed in a crowd, and were ordered
to make holiday. I saw some collected by force, and driven
towards the royal cortege by blows of a rattan. The great
hall of the palace was fall of bonzes, and then- chief began
the long prayers usual on such occasions. Lustres in brass
gUt, which were a very fair imitation of a model seen at
Bangkok, hung from the ceiling, and wax-lights were burn-
ing, sending their smoke up along with that of cigarettes

94 TRAVELS IN IKDO-CHINA.

and the perfume of fi-agrant woods. The prayers, alone,
were not glowing ; for every one chatted, smoked, or chewed
his betel, except the old bonze, who, spectacles on nose,
laboni'ed to make out his Pali. At rare intervals the audi-
ence associated itself with him by a general inclination or
a murmur, which was not unlike the response to our own
prayers. The crown prince had his own part in the cere-
mony. Richly dressed in a langouti of cloth of gold, and a
tunic of net stan-ed ^^ith silver spangles, he had, in spite of
his childish age, the haughty, solemn, and tired air of a
yoimgster who feels his importance. He prepared to submit
to the operation of cutting his hair; an observance in use
in Siam and Cambodgia, as vrell as in Laos, to mark that
the child has passed from boyhood to youth. 'V\Tien the
heavens had been sufficiently invoked, the sovereign took
his place rmder a kind of dais, raised in the court, on an
artificial rock, and communicating with the terrace of the
palace, on the same level. Then, stripping off his fine
robes, he put on white, and the bonzes proceeded to pour a
deluge of luetral water, perfumed, over him. Four doves
were set free, one after the other, by the new king, and
they flew away over the heads of the kneeling people.
This gracious symbol seemed a cruel irony. The whole, in
short, was more curious than imposing, and I could not help
thinking of those pompous Oriental ceremonies of which I
used to dream, after reading self-deluded or lying wi-iters.
Women were altogether excluded from the solemnity. They
take advantage of chinks in the walls, in such cases, to
indulge then- most imperious weakness — curiosity. It is not
the jealousy of the men which makes them hide themselves,
as in Turkey, bxit simply that they are not thought good
enough to appear in such fetes. Amusements were fur-
nished for the public in the evening, in the court of the
palace ; but when we came there, after our dinner, they had
just finished, and the crowd was dispersing. The king, how-
ever, no sooner saw us than he ordered the gates of the
court to be closed, forced all to take then- places again, and
the artists to recommence their feats. Nobody had dined
except the king and ourselves ; but that did not matter.
Some acrobats exhibited simple performances before us ; two

UBONE. 95

of them, liowever, deserve more special mention. The first
put one of the heavy troughs in which the rice is pounded,
successively'- on his head, on his back, and on his stomach,
three vigorous fello-n's doing their best to show us, by the
use they made of three pestles, that they were not con-
federates. They brought us some of the rice, which was
ground to meal, as if it had come out of a mill. The other
passed and repassed over a wide carpet of glowing embers,
as quietly as if he had been walking on grass.

The province of Ubone, created by the fugitives from
Vien-Chan, the ruined capital whose remains we were soon
to inspect farther on, appears to have a population of about
100,000 souls. Its pi-incipal wealth is in beds of salt, which
are worked over a district of about fifteen leagues, round the
chief town. The rain-water, which gets satm-ated with the
mineral when it has soaked down to the lower part of the
soil, rises to the surface again in the diy season, through the
heat, and deposits it on the ground, which appears as if
covered with hoar-fi'ost. The natives sweep the fields, wash
the earth, and evaporate the water. This crop of salt does
not prevent rice fi-om growing on the same ground, as soon
as the first rains have cleansed it. As to the town, it was
the largest we had yet met. The streets are broad, and
pretty well laid out, parallel or pei"pendicular to the river.
In the more important, there are even wooden pavements,
which are of the greatest use to the people when the rains
have soaked the thick coat of sand with which the ways are
covered. We had frequent interviews with the king, and he
often came to see us incognito. He begged us one day to go~~^
out and quiet a band of Burmese pedlars, who were making /
disorder, and whom he could not correct, because they had a -
letter fi-om the English authorities at Eangoon. The chiefs
of the expedition answered that, not being an Englishman,
he had no power to mix in such a dispute. It was several
days before we could root out of the king's mind the false
idea he had taken up of our nationality, and I hardly feel
sure that we succeeded in the end. This incident, which
repeated itself several times during our jom-ney, would,, of
itself, show the necessity of being carefal in this particular.
Now that we are finally settled in Indo-China, it behoves our

96 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

honour tliat the popiilatioii of the interior should learn to
know our name, as that of the coast has ah-eady, and that
England should no longer be imagined by these ignoi-ant
people to be the only Western power. At Ubone, this title
of English, which they persisted in giving us, procured us
more consideration than we should otherwise have met; but
farther on, the unfortunate confusion, in two cases especially,
was on the point of leading to the most disastrous results.

It had become indispensable to rid ourselves of the Euro-
peans who composed our escort. The Frenchmen, who had
already created trouble for us at Bassac, might bring on
more serious complications, by their bad conduct in circum-
stances easy to foresee. M. de Lagr^e detennined to send
these men to Pnom-Penh, and he also wished to make a last
effort to get the letters from Pekin, for which we had waited
so long and so vainly. In om- absolute ignorance of what
had passed in Cambodgia since oui- departure, it was not
prudent to go thither by the river, which is the usual route;
and the chief of the expedition directed M. Garnier to reach
Pnom-Penh by the interior of the countries bordering the pro-
vinces of the protectorate. This journey, equally difficult
and perilous, was destined to have the additional advantage
of bringing to light what had been hardly suspected — the
existence of a great country, which remained absolutely Cam-
bodgian, under foreign domination. In the provinces of
Suren, Coucan, Sanka, and Tchonkan, which border on
Angcor, the population preserves, still, the language of the
ancient kingdom, of which we protect what remains. This
country separates the provinces situated on the Mekong to
about the fifteenth degree of north latitude, from the other
Siamese possessions, and has preserved a kind of autonomy,
the king of Siam, in deference to the feelings of the people,
giving them no governors who are not of their own race.

Nature, herself, thus seems to have marked out the field
which we have to clear in the lower part of the Mekong
valley. On both sides of the great river, the Se-mun or
river Ubone, 'and the Se-don, bound the zone mthin which
om' influence behoves ue to prevail. On the right bank, the
ancient Cambodgian provinces I have just named seem to be
inexhaustibly fertile. Their productiveness, stimulated by

THE FUTURE OF LAOS. 97

new markets, by the opening of roads, which the geological
structure of the country makes easy, will increase the exports
of Saigon. On the left bank, on this side of the S4-don, the
country is less favom-ed, as we proved dm-ing our excursion
to Attopde ; but behind the strip occupied by the Laotians,
and the narrow territory where some savage tribes live
scattered ia their forests, are the Annamites, of whom one
cannot help thinking at the sight of a soil, naturally fertile,
but only half inhabited and only half cultivated by a lazy
population, whom the mandarins dev^our. The intelligent
race, of whom we have abeady attracted a marvelloiis pro-
portion into the sis provinces of Lower Cochin-China, will,
perhaps, some day cross the mountains which separate it
fi-om Laos, and wiU transform that country, at once by its
industry and by its healthful example.

CHAPTER III.

DEPARTURE FROM UBONE. JOURNEY BY LAND. HALT AT KHEMA-
RAT ON THE BORDERS OF THE JDEKOXG. ARRH'AL AT YIEN-
CHAN. VISIT TO THE RUINS OF THAT ANCIENT CAPITAL.

It had been predicted that we should have to pass some
months in Laos — a region of evil name, protected by the
rocks with which its river bristles, and still more by the
miasma exhaled by the sun's heat, from the curiosity or am-
bition of its neighbours. It was not, therefore, without some
feeling of joy, almost of pride, that in thinkmg of the road
we had already come, we recalled our hardships, running-
over them as a soldier does his wounds, and finding that we
still sm-vived. Om- ranks were about to be thinned, but it
was an act of our own will. M. de Lagr6e had sent away all
the Europeans of om escort but one, the rest having shown
that their courage was greater than their resignation, and
that they were fitter to fight visible enemies than to bear
the enforced delays of our progress, and the annoyances of
the climate. Attracted at first by the hope of adventure,
they soon got an inkling of the monotonous life before them,
and their enthusiasm sank, as then eyes opened to the reali-
ties of the case. We fancied, moreover, that we had nothing
to fear fi^om the Laotians; for thek extreme gentleness left
us without anxiety, so far as they were concerned. We were
called, it is true, to pass thi-ough the midst of other popiila-
tions of very different tempers, but they were still far dis-
tant ; and it v/as -wise, since we could not in any case force
the mandarins to do what Ave wanted, to make sure, at least,
of the sympathy of the natives, by irreproachable conduct
and strict disciplme.

About three degrees of latitude and one of longitude

THE JMEKONG UNXAVIGABLE. 99

already separated us from Crach^, the Cambodgian village
where we had exchanged oitr steamer for canoes, and which
we, therefore, regai'ded as om- true point of departm-e. The
-ndndings of the river made the distance still greater. We
had reached the limits of Lower Laos, and it may not be
without use, if, in a few words, before leaving Ubone, to ad-
vance into Middle Laos, I note the results obtained in the
first part of our jom-ney. AsiJ;ave_said abeady, these re-
sults, so far as regards the hope of making the river a great
com aefcial'Tii ghway vwere unf ortuttately negativer"The dif-
ficulties it offers begin at first starting fi:om the Cambodgian
fi;ontier ; and they are very serious, if not insurmountable.
K it were attempted to use steam on this part of the Me-
kong, the return would be very dangerous. At Khong an ab-
solutely impassable barrier, as things are, st-ands in the way.
Between Khong and Bassac the waters are unbroken and
deep, but the channel is again obstructed a short distance
from the latter. From the mouth of the river Ubone, which we
had ascended, to Khemarat, — that is, over a distance of two-
thirds of a degree of latitude, — the Mekong is nothing more
than an impetuous torrent, whose waters rush along a chan-
nel more than a hundred metres deep by hardly sixty across.
The truth began, at last, to force itself on the most sanguine
among us. Steamers can never plough the Mekong, as they
do the Amazon or the Mississippi; and Saigon can never
be united to the western provinces of China by this immense
river-way, whose waters make it so mighty, but which seems,
after all, to be a work mifinished. From other points of
view, out laboui-s had not been so ban-en. If the great_hope
faded away— ifit_seemed no longer likely that^Ee^roduce
of SetcEuen and of~TunaSr^^3d_ev_^^ome^t_o,be.g.torei.on
thewhai'ves~ofLower Co3un-China^ — it became,_atjeast, cer-
tain, 5nT;Tie"lythBr4i^^T^tj^fi_.£PBijm erce^^ '
natm:aIly''fl6we3"toT*nom-Penh^j^uli|jatJhere was nothing
like a forcM difecHon'^S'^^^SjRg^^kok^^ been fear£d
at Saigon. The great rafts of collected bamboos, and even
canoes7^guided by the sure skiU of hardy crews, are already
the agency used for the transport of bales of cotton and silk,
of loads of rice, and troops of slaves. A course of exchange,
of a kmd, already exists, and it is only required that this be

100 TRATELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

developed. Annamites, Chinese, and Europeaus, were use-
fully helping this commercial propagaudism, which would
benefit our colony. An excellent plan, and one of which our
colonial government could try the effect, would be, to rouse
the Laotians from their torpor, to induce them to produce
more by the prospect of sure markets, to awaken desires, to
create wants, to force local authorities to respect om- mer-
chants, and thus to teach some moderation in their demands
from such of their officials as might treat with French sub-
jects. Some kinds of European goods would soon make their
way among the mass of the people. The comparative se-
verity of the cold season has already forced the Laotians to
Tise textile fabrics, of which the greater part, exported from
English manufactiu'ers, are introduced by way of Bangkok.
The taste for brilliant colours in cloth is pretty general, and
they are, perhaps, the one luxury which may become common.
Watches and arms are sought for by the rich; and in ex-
change for such gifts we obtained every possible service
from the authorities. The mandarins ti-ansform their houses
into museums, where they show off with pride the reftise of
our coarser manufactures, and think the more of them the
more they have cost.

On the other hand, the timid and gentle nature of these
people, so easily alai-med, would make it necessary to keep
up a constant or periodical watchfulness. Among our fel-
low-coimtrymen who come to seek fortune among strangers,
there are, doubtless, many honourable men, whom it would
be very unjust to include in the sweeping and summary
condemnation too often pronounced against the whole class.
But it cannot be concealed, that, when access is easy to
a coimtiy like Laos, one will meet, among the Europeans
who come to it, men ready, if they find themselves free
from control, to lay aside the peaceful ways of the honest
trader for the successful tricks of the adventurer. This
woidd be a real calamity; but the governor of Cochin-China
might prevent it by organising an annual inspection in the
"lower part of the river, or perhaps by placing one of his
officers at one of the important places of Lower Laos — Bas-
sac, for instance. Not only would the advice of one of those
intelligent men, to whom our colony owes, in part, its pro-

TRUE POLICY TOWARDS LAOS. 101

sperity, be a great help to the native authorities ; the instant
repression of fraud and violence which he coidd enforce
would maintain the national rights we could claim. Com-
plaints -which reach the governor of Cochin-China, after a
long interval, through the king of Siam, will never do much.
The fii-st difficulties vre met in the village of Stung-Treng
rose from the remembrance of recent acts of brigandage
by a Frenchman who wished to make a rapid fortune. The
mandarin of Stung-Treng tried to stop his career, and thus
put an end to his depredations; but this strange trader
having complained, on his return, the admiral then at the
head of om- colony, misled by a false story, thought it his
duty -to address strong remonstrances to the com-t of Bang-
kok. This mistake must needs be repeated, till some official
agent judges things on the spot. We cannot, indeed, without
letting om- prestige suffer, allow the testimony of a Siamese
functionary to prevail against a Em-opean, without a word
on the other side. These considerations should, I wxjuld
hope, be strong enough to remove the objections -which the
king of Siam, who is always suspicious, would not fail to
raise against an innovation as beneficial to his own subjects
as to ours. The young prince who has lately succeeded his
father on the throne is beginning, they say, to feel the cost
of English friendship, and to sho-w a tendency towards us ;
so that the moment seems favourable for our obtaining a
concession, which -we may be able to make him see in its
time light. Beyond Ubone om- political and commercial
interests seem less directly affected. That place, itself, has
frequent connection -with Bangkok, by way of Korat — a vast
entrepot at about fifteen degrees of latitude, where a great
many Chinese have settled, who go out from it in all direc-
tions through the Siamese territories, and carry the English
cotton-checks through every part of Middle Laos.

We had employed our time at Bassac to the best ad-
vantage dm-ing om- forced stay, which proved to be the cause
of great part of our future sufferings. Om* jom-ney on the
Attopee and the other excursions in the interior had no doubt
added to the useful information obtained ; but they had, in
part, consumed om- resom-ces, -without advancing our great
end. Every day lost of the season favourable for travelling

102 TEA\T;LS in INDOCHINA.

■was lite losing a friend, whose place was soon to be taken
by a terrible enemy. While the -nish to avoid a second rainy
season in Laos was a spur to urge us forward, our impatience
beat itself vainly against the opposing ways of the natives,
whose indolence imposed on us the most provoking delays.
It was, moreover, necessary to advance slowly, to give time
to our colleague, who had gone to Cambodgia after the cou-
rier we expected, to overtake us again.

We had left the great river for more than a month, and
we wished, in returning to it and foUowing its course again,
to get to the village of Khemarat, and thus cut off the pen-
insula formed by the Mekong and the Ubone. It was, there-
fore, necessary to organise a land jom-ney. Our letters, from
Siam gave us no right to ask for gratuitous forced labour.
They simply invited the authorities to assist us by what help
might be needed to accomplish om* ends. Up to this time
they had done more than was strictly required of them, and
had of theii- own accord, and very willingly, supplied us with
means of transport. At Ubone, M. de Lagree was anxious
that the commission should do all its own work; but the
natives refused to hire out their own shoulders, as well as
the backs of their beasts. They seemed almost indifferent
to an increase of wages we proposed, doubting, perhaps, if
om- promises could be trusted. For men who called them-
selves great mandarins to offer money was contrary to the
nature of things. Om' repeated and pressing appeals awoke
no reply. If distrust of us had anything to do with this
annoyance, we have, at least, had good reason to feel, since
then, that the laziness of the Laotians had quite as much
share in it. Even Chinese merchants, themselves, have told
us that they often succeeded in hiring porters only by hea-
vily bribing the governors of the province, who forthwith
use the means of constraint at then- disposal, and thus assist
commerce at the cost of personal freedom. This simple fact
thi-ows a strong light on the rudimentary civihsation of these
parts. We had to end by going to the king once more, who
would extricate us from our difficulty, to the great gain of
our exchequer. AVe had in vain attempted to make con-
tracts of service; but at a word from his majesty, fifteen
buffalo- and ox -wagons, fifty men, and six elephants, ga-

^TE LEAVE UBOXE. 103

thered one morning, as it by enchantment, round our hut.
Despotism has its advantages, -when the despot is in a good
mood.

On leaving Ubone, we followed a sandy road, like the
streets of the village itself. The -wagons sank to the axles
in this bm-ning dust, and -we had nothing, -when we alighted
at the hom-s of halting, but nauseous and brackish water.
We found the collection of salt going on over all the coun-
tiy. It is very abundant, and is obtained from different
som'ces. The water evaporates, and the salt is deposited
in basins of common clay, lined -with resin. To ascertain
the saltness of the liquid, the natives have contrived a
ball made of earth and resin, which sinks in fresh water, but
swims in salt. Though they have no other test but this
primitive instmment, their trained eye hardly ever deceives
them.

We soon came on the forest ; but it was ■\\a-etched and stun-
ted, resembling copses, interspersed with immense glades,
most often uncultivated. The roots, which strove to find
the required juices in the earth, showed everywhere the cor-
rosive effect of the salt : the tmnks were miserable, and the
branches knotty. There was nothing like gi-eenness ; every-
thing was dry, withered, bm-ned up. A thick coat of white
dust covered the leaves of the trees; and the elephants, which
commonly feed as they go, could glean nothing but here and
there, at -wide intervals, some creeper, still green, or some
hidden root which they bared -with their foot. It is a time
of hunger for all nature, which seems to sigh for the rains.
Some thinly-sown trees — real bm-ning bushes — ^were covered
-with flaming flowers, like leaves of red-hot metal ; their very
branches were twisted convulsively.

The ha-ving men assigned us had the advantage of being-
very economical ; but it had, also, the serious disadvantage,
that they would never, on any account, pass the often very
cii-cumscribed limits of the pro-vince to which they belonged.
It was thiis necessary to change both men and beasts on the
frontier of each new province we entered. It is no use striv-
ing against this custom, which is the cause of great delays.
The porters laid do-wn then- loads, and ran off into the woods.
When we left the territory of Ubone, we dismissed the men

104 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

allotted us by the king ; and M. de Lagree, who had got us
everywhere a reputation for generosity, established it in this
instance by a liberal distribution of brass wii-e. The petty
mandarins who accompanied us begged that we would hand
them the whole present, which they engaged to distribute
themselves, or to get the king to distribute ; but the crowd
of unhappy porters seemed very pleased when they saw M.
de Lagree reject this perfidious advice. Not forgetting the
rank of each, we made a democratic division. The manda-
rins devoured their rage. They had lost about a hundred
francs of illegitimate profit. As to the fellow who had for
his duty to attend to om- personal wants on the road, he
managed matters in another way. He simply pocketed all
the money we had given him to buy food in the different
villages where we had stayed. The food was provided, and
we were left ignorant that it had been exacted under the
name of presents. It is the custom, always the custom ; and
what can you sayl It soon becomes tiresome to play the
reformer. Elsewhere customs temper the rigour of the law ;
here, in Laos, laws are needed to soften the barbarism of
custom's.

The roads practicable for wagons are scarce, and extend
only a short distance -fi'om the chief centres ; and we, there-
fore, replaced our conveyances, at a forced relay we made at
Amnach, by porters, who would not carry more than six or
seven kUogrammes apiece ; so that we started from the vil-
lage where om- caravan re-formed itself thus, with a great
part of the healthy male population in our train. All the
villages thi-ough which we passed were bound to provision
our whole company, and, this being the case, they had no
pity for the unfortunates so suddenly subjected to so heavy
an imposition. As we got to the river, the country was less
desolate. There could be nothing more sad than the look
of immense plains covered with the straw of rice trampled
down by troops of buffaloes attracted by the salt. The great
forest reappeared at last, thin, but stUl green. Fires had
made gaps here and there, that looked like great spots of
ink ; but the fi-esh colours of the young bamboos, which the
fii-e had spared, looked only so much the brighter by contrast.
Our elephants gave themselves a thorough feast. We slept

KHEMARAT. 105

under huts of leaves built each night near some pool of stag-
nant water, thick, and of all colours on the surface, thinking
om-selves well off if we reached one. It is the great point
at this season; and two. months later, when the sim Avill
have dried up what moisture was left in the ground, it will
be a still more serious matter. It is the fate of the people
of these countries, at least when they are travelling, to be
flooded for one half the year, and for the other to die of
thirst.

We reached Khemarat at last, where M. Delaporte awaited
us. He had got to it by the Mekong, of which he had made
a chart, from this point to the mouth of the Ubone. The
river presents phenomena more remarkable here than at any
other part of its com-se. It roars and boils in a bed only
sixty metres across, worn out in the rock to such a depth,
that we found no bottom at a hundred metres. Nothing can
express the horror of this spot, where the yellow waters twist
over and ovei' through the long narrow pass, breaking against
the rock with, a fearful noise, and forming whirlpools which
no boat dare face. Man has fled from the banks ; great trees
hang over the abyss on both sides, into which theii- weight
often di-ags them down. There is neither village nor even
a solitary hut to be seen. Some daring fishermen had made
a shelter for themselves in the clefts of the rocks, from which
they have scarcely time, to flee at the approach of the rains,
so rapidly do the waters rise. At then- full height, the in-
creased volume is more than fifteen metres in depth.

We were well received at Khemarat. The governor was
just dead, and his substitute for the time — an imbecile old
man — seemed to have a kind of veneration for us. The
people are very simple, and fancied that M. Delaporte's ob-
servations, made to detei-mine the geograpliical position
of the village, were some extraordinary fi-eak of his for
reading in the sim. They consulted us about the future ;
and the old mandarin, who was about to start for Bangkok,
persisted in asking us to tell him what hour would be the
luckiest for him to set out. We ad%ased him to start after
having made a good dinner.

Grand tufted trees sm-rounded and sheltered our hut at
Khemarat. To come on a fine river, and to find mangoes

106 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

and tamarinds in flo-wer, after tlie dusty plains of Ubone,
■was like reaching a fine oasis after a weary marcli in the
desert. The people, like the authorities, lavished their sym-
pathy on us, and information was given us freely. We
gathered there some exact data on the political state and
the administration of government among the Siamese Lao-
tians. The organisation is the same in every province ; so
that a sketch of it in one will suffice.

The province of Khemarat, one of the smallest of Mid-
dle Laos, has about 20,000 registered inhabitants. It is go-
verned by six high functionaries, who live in the chief
place, and take rank under the governor, who is nominated,
like them, by the king of Siam. These great personages
receive no appointments, and have no privilege but the
right to the free service of a certain number of forced la-
bourers ; yet they have a hundred extra legal ways of bring-
ing money to then- chest, and neglect none of them. At
the bottom of the scale come the petty mandarins, who axe
the heads of villages. These render justice in the first in-
stance, and their power, in civil affairs at least, is unlimited.
There is an appeal from their decisions to two tribunals, in
the chief place, successively ; and if this does not satisfy the
litigants, they can appeal, farther, to Bangkok, which is the
foui'th and ultimate step in jurisdiction. The highest ma-
gistrate of the province alone has the power of condemning
to death ; but it is still necessary, before the execution, to
give information to the central government. It cannot be
denied, that all this complication of protecting forms secm-es
certain guarantees for the parties concerned; but, unfortun-
ately, the general corruption destroys in this, as in every-
thing, the effect of good institutions. The venality of the
Laotian functionaries of every rank and kind is can-ied to
the extreme ; and the judges, not content with their legal,
if not legitimate, som-ce of revenvie from the fines they in-
flict, know no such convincing arguments as presents re-
ceived in advance.

Audiences are given, with a degree of solemnity, in a
kind of shed, which serves for a council- chamber as well.
I was present at the trial of a woman taken in the very act
of adultery. The two offenders were tied one at each end

A LAOTIAN TRIAL. 107

of the same bar, and forced to look each other in the face,
striking two sonorous bamboos together, meanwhile, to at-
tract public attention. The husband, never di-eaming but
that the Frenchmen were much amused by his position,
looked very well pleased; indeed, seemed to enjoy it. As
the facts could not be denied, the woman was condemned
to pay a fine of seventeen ticals, something less than sixty
francs, and her paramour twenty-nine ticals, or about ninety-
six francs. In such a case the husband may keep or divorce
his wife, as he pleases. If he chooses to divorce her, he
cannot take her again for ten years ; but the fine levied on
her is paid to him, while the judges pocket that inflicted on
the man. In the affair at which we were present the husband
lost no time in getting rid of her ; and I understood very
soon the cause of his satisfaction. He had given four ticals
and a buffalo to her family for her ; but he had had her for
several years. He now regained his freedom — ^the right to
marry again, and the means of meeting the cost. 'V\Tiat
good fortune in a climate where beauty withers so soon !

All cases are not so favom-able, however. It may happen,
for instance, that the woman cannot pay. If she cannot, she
gets two blows of a rattan for every tical of fine, which
never exceeds forty ticals. Hence, at Laos, any lady may
please her fancy, provided she do not belong to a mandarin,
for a little less than a hundred francs. The sins of a hus-
band are never interfered with by the law ; so that a wife
has nothing for it but to shut her eyes, or to study thrift
in order to avenge herself. Fonnerly the punishment was
more severe; for a woman convicted of adultery lost her
freedom, and became her husband's slave. On this point
the law of the ancient kingdom of Tonkin was even more
rigorous still : a husband who surprised his wife in the act
was authorised, not, indeed, to kill her with his own hands,
as is in some measure the case with ourselves, but to cut off
her hair, and lead her in that state before the mandai-in,
who caused her to be thrown to an elephant which was
specially trained to be the public executioner ; and it, ' lift-
ing her up with its trunk, squeezed her so dreadftilly, and
dashed her to the ground with such violence, that it stifled
her, and made her die in inconceivable torments. If, after

108 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

all, it saw signs of life in her, it stamped on her vnth its
feet, till she was crushed and broken in pieces.' In Cam-
bodgia the elephant is still employed as executioner for high
offences. I have ridden one which, a few days before, had
run its tusks thi-ough the body of a state prisoner, who had
been tied to the trunk of a tree.

The woman fii-st married to a man has, alone, the rights
and rank of lawful wife ; but this restriction does not make
polygamy any the less flourishing. ' As amongst ourselves,'
says an old traveller, rather wanting in com-tesy, ' one likes
to keep dogs, another to keep horses, and still others to keep
wild creatures ; the Laotians have a troop of wives, some
more, some fewei-, as they are able, not for the mere gratifi-
cation of lust, but from an ambitious affectation of great-
ness.'

Property in land does not exist. As to movable pro-
perty, if it have often to submit to wrongs fi.-om aU-powerful
officials, the principle is not the less sacred. The husband
and wife have distinct possessions of flocks, canoes, or nets,
which they can dispose of as they please ; but they are mu-
tually responsible to the community. If the husband run
away, to escape some obligation — such as the tax or forced
labour— the magistrate can seize even the person and the
goods of his wife. The tax which every registered inha-
bitant is bound to pay to Siam is, however, no more than a
personal one, which is far from heavy, and is payable some-
times in kind. We saw an instance of this at Attopee,
whence so much gold, gathered from the sands of the river,
is sent each year to Bangkok, instead of coin, for the tax.

At Khemarat we took again to the river ; for in spite of
their inconveniences, canoes are certainly the most agreeable
mode of transport in these countries. One's bones are broken
by the jerking march of an elephant; a buffalo-wagon creeps
along at a pace deplorably slow; the ox -wagon, on the
other hand, is a narrow and light affair, on an axle that
creaks continually, and though it is dragged along quickly
by its hump-backed team, and passes over every obstacle, it
gives one a great many violent shocks, and not a few up-
settings. The canoes, alone, let you take rest. We had ten,
with crews of sixty men, in all. We entered a labyrinth of

THE LANDSCAPE. 109

islets, banks of sand, and rocks, and came to a large island
which divided the river in two. The arm we ascended sub-
divided itself, as well, into several smaller arms, like torrents
ploughing an immense bank of sandstone. This bank was
grown over by creeping plants, small and dark in the leaf,
thick and twisted in the stem. Other shrubs, of a green that
is almost black, bent by the msh of the waters, rise here and
there over the vast sandstone bed. The branches, stretched
out as if to pray or curse, seem bowed under a kind of cala-
mity. As to the Mekong, it has disappeared. Om- canoes
entered a narrow passage, ten metres broad, where we were
stunned by the noise of the waters, and this stream, shut
in between two walls of rock, was all we could discover of a
river which we had seen more than a league across lower
down. Beyond these rapids, the Mekong spreads itself out
anew in a channel apparently fi-ee fi-om obstructions. But
our canoes struck not the less on shoals, which often forced
our men to take to the water. Farther on, the sandbanks,
the islands, and the islets reappeared, on which everything
was growing and flowering in haste, for the rising flood
w^onld soon submerge all. The landscape was at once solemn
and imposing. Vapours of milky whiteness stretched over
the sky and the waters. Nature seemed sleeping, and as
if wrapped in a light veil. It attracts one, and absorbs him,
dreamily, in spite of himself ; ennui invades you at first, then
follows an utter indifference. Under the all-powerfiil con-
straint of influences so fatal to human personality, thought
dies away by degrees like a flame in a vacuum. The East
is the true land of Pantheism, and one must have been there
to realise the indefinable sensations which almost make the
Nirvana of the Bouddhists comprehensible.

Storms sometimes disturbed the implacable serenity of the
heavens. They snatched nature fi-om its leaden coffin ; they
were like grand bursts of life, of which we were a part. One
night, I remember, I listened in transport to the noise of the
thunder, and the gleams of the lightning brought a deep
and inexpressible joy j but the wind roughened the river, and
our boats, dashed rudely on the banks, filled in a moment;
The Laotians exerted themselves, without resting, to get out
the water, and wiped us as dry as possible, with the care of

110 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHIXA.

benevolent old women. These brave people took no end of
trouble witli ns, whether from the thought of their responsi-
bility, or from natural kindness : perhaps from both motives,
for they spare nothing to make any one confided to them
comfortable. When we reached a village, a Simien, or secre-
tary, came to register our luggage, and the very least of our
packages was guarded as if it had been a casket of jewels.
At Ubone one of these scribes, posted, unknown to us, in
our dining-room, took note of the dishes that seemed to
please us, to let the king know them. In one of om- excur-
sions, a wagon having upset, a box of pins opened, and the
contents were scattered on the sand. We had to wait till
the last pin was picked up.

I shall not weary the reader with giving all the stations
on om' route. We sailed most part of the day, and slept at
night in our canoes, or in a hut of bamboos. I had, at times,
for com'tesy, to land, and go to see wonders related to me
by my head rower, as found in some of the villages on the
bank ; but curiosity, often deceived, died at last for want of
food. There are no other public buildings but pagodas, and
they are all alike in general consti'uction and in decoration.
They are made of brick, and thatched, and contain one or
more gilded statues of Bouddha, standing, or with his legs
folded under him ; the countenance grave — a little sancti-
monious, perhaps — and hanging ears. I noticed, however,
in a village not far from Khemarat, a statue which differed
altogether -from the type imiformly adopted by the priestly
sculptors of Cambodgia, Siam, and Laos. It is in a niche of
grotto-work : heads of monsters peer from all the holes ;
and, on the two sides, two gilt dragons rise towards heaven,
from the red base of the recess, in the style of our adoring
angels. The god, himself, has caught some oddities fi-om
this sm-rounding. His round ej'es stick out of their sockets,
and his face is like that of a pirffed-out frog's. The outside
of the pagoda is ornamented in a very fantastic way. I had
often seen gables, incrusted vnth glass, glittering in the
sun ; but, in this case, the building was decorated by a set of
the finest Chinese porcelain. The architect has bedded blue
plates in the thatch, and run a garland of rose-coloured
saucers round the wall. I could even distinguish European

ART IN LAOS. Ill

washing-basins and water-glasses iii the place of honoui-.
Chinese influence begins to make itself felt in other ways,
also, in Laotian art, if such a grand word can be used in
this connection. The frescoes on the walls of the sanctuaries
are generally by Chinese artists. The subject of these gross
paintings is almost everywhere the same : first, the picture,
coarse, very coarse, of the cardinal sin of the Laotians; then,
below, the representation of the punishments which await
the impm-e of both sexes in the other world, which are
always inflicted on the pai-ts that have transgressed. The
lesson is a thoroughly moral one, but it is a question if it
serve its purpose. I have been led to doubt it very much,
in seeing the rolling eyes of the young bonzes as they ran
over these compositions, in which free reins seem to have
been given to an imagination as lascivious as that of some
Jules Romain. One is surprised to see Em-opean ships,
with their crew on the deck, by the side of these pious
allegories, in the middle of blue, green, red, and yellow
temples and palaces. In one subject of this kind it seemed
as if the artist had been most struck by the chimneys of a
steamboat, and by the stove-pipe hats, which have made the
roimd of the world.

The rounded tops of the high palms, and the far-reach-
ing perfumes of the ivoiy-like flowers of the cabbage-palms,
which are sure signs of a viUage being close, announced
from a distance the chief place of the province of Banmuk,
where a complete estabKshmeht, prepared on the banks of
the river, awaited us. The Laotians can do wonders with
wood, especially with bamboo. They improvise a hut with
a marvellous sense of the wants of their hosts. The parti-
tions are always made of a double trelKs of bamboo slips,
between which is placed the native tapestry, large leaves ;
and the whole is made firm by bands of rattan, so that we
can change the interior an-angements at our pleasure, on
our arrival, all that is needed being to untie some knots.

We are still in one of those kingdoms created by Siamese
policy for the benefit of the deposed princes of Vien-Chan
— a convenient way to get rid of pretenders who might
be dangerous. The members of the royal family declare
themselves well satisfied with their bargain in Laos, for

112 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

nothing is needed to malie them happy but a title, a para-
sol, a box of betel, and a gold spittoon. Phnom, where ye
arrived three days after leaving Banmuk, is not a chief
place of the province, and would have no importance but
for its being a religious centre, to which pilgrims gather. A
long nan-ow avenue, perpendicular to the river, and paved
with brick, stretches under palm-trees, leading to a pagoda,
which ie a huge rectangular affair, sm-rounded by a gallery
supported by red pillars, set with decorations in gold, with
a bundle of long, sharp leaves, like Arab daggers, with the
points bent back, for caj)itals. Above the doors and ■\^dndows
are ornaments in pyramid shape on the wall, in the Siamese
taste — a kind of royal parasols, of several stories, topped by
an interminable pointed cap, like that which our astrological
magicians are made to wear. But the most remarkable
decoration is that of a sham door. Two personages equally
begilt stand out in relief on a red ground, between elegant
garlands of flowers and gilt leaves. They are stiffly done,
as usual, yet one may perhaps make out a kind of smile on
their gross featm-es and flat lips. They are supported by
two griffons, or monsters of some sort, who are performing
high above the groimd some confused dance. They are
boldly designed; their hands are thrown about furiously,
and their hmbs are in extraordinary postures ; but the pro-
portions are good, and the whole has truth, force, movement,
and life.

The inside of the pagoda is sad. Some licentious pictures
here and there pollute the walls, from which the thatch is
faUing in handfuls. The roof desei-ves notice, its painted
beams forming compartments, in the centre of which are
tufts of gilt foliage, which look like a large bearded root, as
if the plant were pushing upwards.

Behind the pagoda is a fantastic pyi'amid, which begins
in a kind of enormoiis cube, on which, separated from one
another by cornices, are three rectangular masses, each less
high than the other. The architect has set a second pyi-amid
on this base, reproducing, at first, the forms below; then
passing insensibly fi-om square to round, substituting undu-
lating lines for the salient angles, and finishing off a-top in
a sharp point. This group of monuments arrests the eye,

A HOLT PLACE. 113

unused to gi-and proportions and startling colours, for ban-
ners, standards, and rags of cloth of every colour, float in
the. air. The sun makes the gold sparkle, and the glass, im-
bedded in the walls among the red bricks, shines brilliantly.
But all this, though striking, is not worth much, after all,
for the pyramid, haviug been often rebuilt, is no longer what
it wa,s formerly. One is arrested by strange ii-regularities^
a;nd if it were not for the natural craving to admire some-
thing, one cares not what, in a country where all the huts
are built alike, this mass of bricks and thatch, in which the
eye meets hardly a detail worth noticing, would be passed
without stopping. Besides, the gUding on the pyi-amid is
mostTy gone, and would he so entirely, but for the piety of
the faithful, who stick on little leaves of gold, wherever
faiicy strikes them, as offerings, or in fulfilment of vows.
They come. in pilga-image fi:om all Laos to Phnom, the more
devoted making a retreat of some days dm-ing their stay,
and wearing during the time the saffiron gown of the bonzes.
We met rafts of male and female bonzes on their way to
this holy place, beguiling the weary slowness of the sail by
chants and prayers, and other exercises made in common.
Our Laotian intei-preter, who had often appeared to me to
have lost all his faith, could not resist the pious influence
of this monument, which he had visited before. In a fit of
devotion he even went so far as to make an offering of the
half of the upper joint of his forefinger to Bouddha. The
attendants of the pagoda at Phnom perform operations of
this kind very cleverly, with the help of a chopper and a
foot-iTile, and measxure the zeal of the pilgrims by the extent
of the sacrifice. It is strange.to.find in Middle Laos, as a
product of Bouddhisni, the aben-ation of mind 'which leads
men to self-mutilation. We had reason, too often, to regret,
in the. sequel, that our interpreter, instead of confining him-
self to losing .his. finger, had not followed the example of
Origen, and gone farther; it would have saved us fi-om
troubles in which his failings involved us.

The river continued to fall. Huge sandbanks, like stranded
monsters, showed then- high backs. We saw before us a for-
est of mountains, made a dark leaden colour, in the distance,
by thick mists, which rolled hither and thither tmderra black

I

114 TRAVELS IN INBO-CHINA.

sky, at times iii indescribable confusion. They were tbe
mountains of Lakhon, which were in front of om- encamp-
ment during our stay in this new province. The chain
commences in the south-east, in two or three soft, slow-
rising, gentle undulations, which trend northwards, and form
a vapoury background to the landscape. From them, at once
united and distinct, rise five masses, with rugged crests,
rough, and cut into shady hollows on the sides ; a faint pale
aureola, from the sun on the mists, rising over the summits
and sharp outlines. Looking to the north, an immense curved
line shows itself, growing ever greater, opening like the
arch of a gigantic bridge, and binding this first group to a
second, more complicated, each peak of which has a form
of its own, and does, in some sort, as it pleases, without
troubling itself about its neighbom-. The most remarkable
thing about these mountains is the kind of life they seem
to possess. It shows itself in an incredible confusion. The
angles are thrown fantastically by some mad geometer,
who could be no other than fierce subterranean fii-e. A
dome raises its head cmiously above the leaning shoulder
of a round hiU, and a pyi-amid reverses itself, as if to the
music of some wild orchestra. Seen nearer, and in detail,
these mountains are in keeping with all that the imagination
most in love with the fantastic, which had been attracted
by their more distant forms, could dream. Valleys, gorges,
sombre gaps, walls cut perpendicularly, rough, or polished
by water, cavities festooned with hanging stalactites, and
notched like gothic sculptures — make up a strange sight,
which cannot fail to excite admiration.

The inhabitants find in them an inexhaustible mine of
limestone. They split the stones with fii-e, burn them on
the spot, and then carry them to the neighbom-ing -s-illages
by water. The kilns, dug in the steep banks of the river,
somewhat resemble those we often see in France. They
consist of a deep furnace, communicating with a vast open
kiln, into which they throw the stones. If its salt be the
wealth of the province of Ubone, lime is an equal blessing
to that of Lakhon; for not only do the pagodas absorb an
enormous quantity, it is an object of the first necessity to
every Laotian. With the leaf of the betel, and the nut of

ANNMHTE IMMIGRANTS. 115

the cabbage-palm, it is an essential part of that abominable
quid, which makes the mouth look bloody, broadens the lips,
lays bare and blackens the teeth, and makes the women
hideous. The natives often add tobacco, and the bark of a
kind of tree which is the object of a great commerce.

A considerable part of the village of Lakhon, near the
dwelling of the governor, had just been burned. The leaves
of the trees were scorched, the trunks calcined, and the look
of the tall palms, in particular, was almost melancholy. This
great gap in the middle of the flowers and verdure made
me feel a kind of sadness. It seemed as if winter had come
all at once, in its severity, over one part of the woods,
leaving their shadows and mysteries to the rest. But this
feeling did not last. The ruined quarter had become a vast
work-yard, full of happy activity; bands of children, rejoiced
at the unaccustomed stir, adding to the noise. In a French
village, such a disaster would have been h-reparable; but in
Laos, where living is easy, it hardly seemed to be thought of.
Farther off, a great number of new huts had risen, by the
industry of Annamite immigrants, who, of course, fraternised
with our escort. Indeed, it was not without a vivid pleasure
we ourselves unexpectedly encountered people like those
who fill the streets of Saigon. Men, women, and children
came round us familiarly, their eyes dilated with curiosity,
and no trace of ill-wiE or anger on then- faces. Yet they
had fled from their country to escape defending it. Om- in-
vasion having forced Tu-duc to raise extraordinary levies,
many of his subjects thought it prudent to put the breadth
of a moxmtain between them and his recruiting sergeants.
Those settled at Lakhon are from a province above Hu4, not
more than thirty-five or forty leagues off. Except Huthen,
our next station, which is not more than thu-ty marine
leagues from the gulf of Tonkin, Lakhon was the nearest
point to the Annamite empire at which we stopped. The
general course of the Mekong towards the west, already very
perceptible since we left Bassac, took us much farther off from
this time, by its still more pronounced course in that direction.
At the sight of this simple village, which was as busy as an
ant-hiU, one could not but hope that Annamite emigration
would be still more developed in Laos; for the Aimamites

116 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CHIXA.

would be like leaven in heavy dough, among the Laotians.
Essentially similar in both their good and bad points, they
would be the most useful, and the leading instrument of our
policy -in these countries.

The chief village of the province of Huthen offers nothing
special, but it, nevertheless, holds a pleasant place in oiu-
memory. One day, the 6th of March 1867, I was lying
stretched out in one of these wooden tm-rets, commonly built
on -the top of the river-banks, near the pagodas, where the
bonzes while away the time not devoted to the repetition
of prayers,in seeing the waters flow past. At my feet, the
river, broad -and smooth as a huge mirror of steel, sent back
a thousand lights- from the. rays of the sun beaming on it.
A sandbank, . dotted with black. by the buffaloes creeping
slowly over it to the water, to escape the heat, linked it to
the opposite bank. The sky was like a metal basin heated
to whiteness, and the reflection from the landscape burned
the eyes. My thoughts, in a kind of half-sleep, tm-ned, as
a;lwaye, to France, when joyful cries rose suddenly to tell me
that we were going to hear from it. M. Gamier had arrived.
He had found part of the post at Pnom-Penh; the other,
which had been foi-warded .by Bangkok, was probably lost
in the forests. We had, at last, got the passpoirts' signed
by Prince Kong,..regent o£theJ3ele^ial jEmpire, and could
hencefortiriiope to be able to get into it. We learned, at
the same time, that cannon had roared in Europe, that Ger-
many was in confusion, that public opinion was excited -in
France. From the tone of the journals, and the prophecies
in our private letters, a near and terrible war, in which our
country must needs take part, seemed, to our ininds, inevit-
able. To-day these prophecies make us smile, but .they kept
a sad hold on our minds at the time; and it was with this
heavy load on our hearts we set about stai'ting afresh for
remote regions,, where we had no longer the hope of any
post reaching us. We never failed to send letters by traders
descending the river, or mandarins going to Bangkok ; and
we have since learned that they all reached their address,
so great is the respect of the Laotians for anything confided
to them, especially letters. As to om-selves, not knowing
beforehand the places we .should reach, or even the way we

A TIGER AT BAT. 117"

should have to go, we felt that we could not hear anything,
for long, of the questions debated in Europe. I never felt
more keenly the extent of the saci-ifice I had undertaken, in
any other incident of a joiu-ney which proved so full of
trials. Our family letters, read, re-read, and commented
upon, rekindled om- courage. The latest were of the date of
September- 1866. We were in March 1867, and we were to
receive no more till the end of June, in the next year.

Saiabury and Phon-Pissai offer- nothing of interest. Be-
tween -these two .centres of the province, or Muongs, as the
natives, call them, the banks of the Mekong are almost de-
serted:, the great. forest comes down to the water's edge
on both sides ; huge trees lie fallen, here and there, and rest
on the cliffs, which have given, way below them ; the waters
fret their roots, and they hold on to the land by their branches,
to be swept away, however, when the river rises.

While waiting for the daily rice, which was cooked on
the bank, we used to push into the thick tangled woods, as
chance led us. We admired the wonderful vegetation, with
its hundied-feet-high shafts, linked one to the other .by
waving, creepers encircling them, and hanging from the
masses of foliage. We got into the habit of these strolls,
walking about, unarmed, under these dark arches of green,
without thinking of the terrible enemies that might lie
hidden in the bamboos or the jungle. One evening, how-
ever, one of us saw a tiger bound out, and stop within
twenty paces of him. The ferocious eye of the brute, no
doubt, frrightened our friend ; but his white skin, long beard,
and fixed stare troubled the beast as much, and he stood
still and let his foe regain the canoes. We snatched up our
rifles; but our pursuit was unsuccessful, in spite of its tracks
deeply bedded on the moist ground, and the precise di-
rections of om* comrade. Terrified apes growled at us from
the tops of the trees, and peppered us with whatever they
could break off; but it was rather ungrateful of them ; for,
if the natives were to be beheved, the tiger we had just
put to flight had been on the watch for them. The plan fol-
lowed by these brutes is cmious. When they see the monkeys
sporting on the branches, they crawl through the grass to
the tree, give it a Budden_ blo'w with their shoulder, as chil-

118 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

dren do to get down apples or nuts, and the poor creatures,
whicli the blow shakes down, are devoured forthwith. The
Laotians feeling iU at ease after this incident, notwithstand-
ing our presence, we allowed them to put part of the river
between them and these nightly ^asitors, and they accord-
iugly betook themselves to an island to sleep.

After a long interval of wilderness, the presence of man
Avas once more indicated by an attempt at a settlement. A
piece of the forest had been felled, the trees, cut down about
six feet above the ground, lying entangled with each other
as they had fallen. Banana plants had taken root along-
side ; chickens, pigs, and dogs wandered through the chaos ;
and the settlers, crouched under their shanties, seemed wait-
ing for the village to build itself. I could not keep from
contrasting the scene with one which M. Ampere gives, in
his Promenades en Amdrique, of a town in the Union, I believe
Chicago, in its first beginnings. At the time when that
clever traveller visited it, the forest was hardly yet cleared
from the spot, and the future citizens were making use of
the trees to build their dwellings ; but Chicago is to-day an
important town of lUinois, with two hundred thousand in-
habitants ! Asia, the ancient cradle of the world, produces
only tyrants and slaves. Would that the races which, spiing-
ing from it, have been developed under less enervating skies,
could give a little of such youthfalness to the ancient nurse
of then fathers !

Nong-Cai, the province next Vien-Chan, the ancient capi-
tal of the kingdom, has gained in importance since the ruin
of the latter. The governor has given proof of some spirit,
having, for example, excused himself from attending the
funeral ceremonies of the second king of Siam, at Bangkok.
He came to see us, splendidly dressed in a silk langouti,
and a vest of the same stuff, braided with gold. He had
a numerous suite ; a magnificent parasol shaded him from
the sun, and he had spittoons, ewers, and betel-boxes in
silver-gilt; this last feature marking him as only a little
less than a king. We returned his visit at once. His palace,
though of wood, has a striking appearance, fine pillars sup-
porting the timber work. The vast apartment in which he
receives is decorated with Chinese pictm-ee. At our entrance

FESTIVAL AT NONG-CAI. 119

the band played an air, which must be the national one, for
I have never heard it but in Laos. His excellency, seated
at a table, the first we had seen in the country, invited us to
do the same, and we began a friendly conversation, through
the interpreter.

Behind the village is an immense plain, over which palm-
trees have grown, at random. They have a look altoge-
ther their own ; more poetical and more eastern than the
graceful cabbage-pahn, or the somewhat heavy cocoa. Their
crest seems almost too weighty for them, and their trunk is
often bent. The wind makes a rustle in theu* leaves, as if
they were parchment crumpled in the hand. In this, plain
stands the chief pagoda, which is approached by a long
road, paved with wood. We were there on a feast-day.
The crowd flooded the space before it and the porches ; the
blue pantaloons of Chinese mingling with the fantastic lan-
goutis and many- coloured scarves of the Laotians. The
faithful and the curious pressed into the courtyard and the
very narrow ground of the sanctuary, where bonzes read
prayers, amidst offerings arranged round them with some
taste, decorating the temple and sharpening the appetite.
Scarlet hangings flowed from the pillars, and in the warm
shade, amidst flowers and perfomes, were yoimg girls with
languishing eyes and smiles that might have turned one's
head. Every person was speaking, smoking, or laughing
loudly. None were sedate, nor even attentive, except thi:ee
yoimg priests, who threw libertine glances imder the scarves
of the young women kneeling before them.

We had retained the Frenchman who acted as Siamese
interpreter', as far as Nong-Cai. He might still have been
of use, for long, but his misconduct forced M. de Lagrde to
dismiss him. We were getting on farther, and so much the
more was it necessary to tighten the bonds of discipline.
We had already repeatedly noticed a sudden and inex-
plicable change in the feelings of the people and the autho-.
rities, which turned out at last to be traceable to the theft
of some dish, perhaps, or the violation of some girl. Profit-
ing by his knowledge of the language, our interpreter intro-
duced himself to families, and abused our rank as mandarins,
to commit offences, of which the victims were afraid to com-

120 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

plain. The unhappy man, thro-wn into Bangkok at the age
of eleven, without relations or friends, had unfortunately
fallen into the hands of many passing adventurers, till he
had learned to be the instrument of all their pleasures, and
the accomplice in their frauds. Retaining the frank and
ready intelligence of his race, he had borrowed craft and
pliancy from the Asiatic air in which he had lived, and a
power of lying which I never saw equalled in my life. I
used to shudder, when at times I let my thoughts down
into the abysses of such a degraded nature, in which good
advice sank like stones in the deep sea. The slave-trade
seemed to hold the fii-st place in the favourite dreams that
crossed the brain of this man. He intended to retm-n to
Laos to follow it, and did not hesitate to tell us eo. He
looked on it as a sure way to satisfy his three dominant
passions — ^the love of adventures, the love of money, and
the craving for debauchery. I have heard a man of ex-
perience say, that to learn honesty in the position of an
interpreter it was necessary to be one thrice ; and if this
be true, the reHef afforded us when the governor of Nohg-
Cai offered to conduct our man back to Bangkok, under a
sufficient guard, may be judged. Each member of the ex-
pedition set forthwith to work to learn as much of the lan-
guage as was necessary; and the result was astonishing,
from the same reason as forces a man thrown into the water
to learn quickly to swim. M. de Lagr^e still, however, kept
the old bonze of Cambodgia, Laotian by bfrth, who had cut
off his finger at Phnom, to facilitate his intercourse with the
native authorities.

The governor of Nong-Ca'i put his private canoe at the
service of the chief of the expedition. It was finely modelled
and gilt profusely, and had a crew of eight rowers, in jackets
of red wool, T^nth kepis with large shades, and of enormous
height, for head-gear. We each took possession of a less
elegant canoe, and reached, on April the 2d, a point where
the Mekong spreads out like an enormous fan. Our rowers
at once stoj)ped, teUing us we had got to Vien-Chan; and we
landed, no little astonished, for we could see nothing on the
banks but dense forests. Vien-Chan was the name, among all
those with which I had charged my memory before start-

' VIEN-CHAN. 121

ng, round whicli most interest had gathered. It has often
iccurred m these pages already; for we had found the de-
icendants of the royal family, which had formerly reigned
iver the capital whose ruins we were about to explore, ecat-
ered all oyer Laos, What it had been at its best may be
udged from the fact that Van Diemen, the governor of the
)utch Indies, thought it worth while to send an ambassador
it in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Scaling the steep bank by the help of a bamboo ladder,
ve found ourselves among the prickly bushes, which always
;row thickly among ruins, as if they were a veil drawn
)y natm-e over the weakness of man and the vanity of his
vorks. A guide, bent to the ground by his sad recollections
md the weight of years, guided us with much emotion as
ve hurried on. He had seen Vien-Chan, his birthplace, in
ts glory. The soil was strewn with bricks, and we soon
;ame upon the wall of the town. It is high, and very broad,
vith ornaments above it in the shape of a heart, set side by
side, so as to make embrasures. A huge post, on which the
Drihcipal gate hung, still stands. The wall, which runs down
;o the river, stretches in angles and recesses through the
Damboos. Heaps of bricks, lying here and there, are probably
;he remains of bastions. After long and anxious search we
bund that the town had no other monuments remaining but
;he king's palace, some pagodas, and the libraries for the
sacred books ; but there were so inany even of these, that we
jave up the attempt to count them. They seemed aU to
lave been built on the same plan, and to have been decorated
n the same style — ^the proportions alone were different. The
pagoda of iPhS.-k^o was one of the largest and finest. The
;rees which half hid it, and the creepers which bound its
Diliars together, and spread a mysterious shadow over the
Tiins, made one feel something of that awe which filled men
)f old at the threshold of a sacred wood. The enclosm-e of
;he pagoda was of sun-dried brick. Grand staircases led up
;o its platform. A contorted dragon stretched along the
jalusters, lifting its head threatehingly frora its thrown-back
leck. The columns of the gallery ai-e graceful, slender, light,
vithout a base, but ending in a capital of long, sharp leaves,
)ent hack, and, as it were, crushed by the weight above. Here

122 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

and there they still showed signs of gilding. The three doors
of the fafade and the side-windows are richly chased with
ornaments, like those I had seen at Phnom. The whole out-
side of this building, which was of considerable size, was
gat. It has no roof, and the colossal statue of Bouddha,
which still. sits over the forsaken altar, is exposed to all the
injuries of the weather. At the side of the temple is a library,
built in the same style, but smaller. The artists had inin
lozenge ornaments along the black base of the walls, which
looked not unlike the tatters of paper sticking to the street-
hoardings in Paris.

Pha-kdo— for the natives have religiously preserved the
name of destroyed temples — ^was the pagoda of the palace;
but that building itself is no .more than a mass of ruins
spread over a considerable space. From what we could see,
and from the information, given by some who had known it
when standing, its plan was .very little different from that of
the pagodas. It was a, rectangular building, sm-rounded by
a gallery supported on pillars. Another pagoda, called Si-
saket, stands in an inner court, round which a cloister runs,
along' which are placed some statues of Bouddha, sitting.
Their head-dress, raised to a point, is like the helmets of oui-
old knights, and, Taut for the placid face of the god,^one might
think himself in some military museum.

The walls of the cloister, and those of the pagoda itself,
are pierced with thousands of little niches, regularly built,
in each of which squats a miniature Bouddha. We calcu-
lated that there must be twenty thousand of these little
images. It is a veritable pigeon-house of gods. Si-saket is
the best-preserved of the temples, and still contains a great
many objects employed in the ceremonies of worship. I ad-
mired, among other things, a little carving in wood. It is a
kind of screen, with a light bar still attached to it, for hold-
ing the tapers lighted before the altar. It has a gilt frame,
on which fantastic figui-es mingle their allegorical shapes.
Two serpents are twisted together, and from their twin-
ings rise two arms, which support the taper-stand. In the

* This expression is hardly correct, for Bouddha never spoke of him-
self as more than a man who preached perfection ; but, in spit« of the
orthodox doctrine, the people at large in reality Tvorship him as a god.

'■-,a -

0. fc.'

:;5¥

VIEN-CHAN. 123

empty space in the middle of tlae screen, a kind of lyre,
which blends its gilding -with light seen through it, has the
happiest effect. There is also a chair of cement, gilt, pre-
served in another pagoda. From a sculptm-ed seat, orna-
mented with lions having human heads, centaui's of a new
kind, there spring light arches, which bear up the roof.
The place where the bonze stood to read prayers is marked
by elegant little pillars. Innmnerable pyramids are hidden
in the forest, which, after first half throwing them down,
keeps them from falling farther by the trees. The natm-al ve-
getation harmonises admirably with this vegetation in stone
— the gray tints of the cement giving it the air of granite
darkened by tiie moist atmosphere. Thousands of kilo-
grammes of copper and bronze nm into figures of Bouddha,
heaps of bricks, no end of pagodas, and, amidst all this, the
traces of only one secular human habitation — the palace of
the king — was the sum of what I saw ia a ramble of some
hom-s in the ruins of Vien-Chan. The inhabitants lived in
huts, like the Khmers ; but one must not recall, in looking
at these ruins, which, after all, are very mediocre — the recol-
lections of the grand Cambodgian architectui-e of Angcorand
Vat-Phou, else he will think there is nothing at all worth no-
ticing in Laos. When the Siamese general drove out the
king, this town was still flourishing ; to-day, forty years later,
everything is destroyed — etiam periere ruince.

A great highway, broad, straight, and planted with old
trees, runs up to the chief gate, crossing marshy meadows,
which formerly were ditches. It leads to a sandy road
covered with a growth of bamboos. Every instant vestiges
of walls show where a pagoda stood, and small pyramids
abound. The imhappy Laotian who accompanied us trem-
bled to lead strangers into these holy places, often bowed,
sometimes prostrated himself, exhausting his strength in
marks of respect to the guardian spirits of the ruins. He
gave a look of horror when he saw me making for a niche
covered with bushes. ' A spuit lives there/ said he, ' Tepada ;
he demands every one who draws near him to creep, and
will, stand no trifling on this point.' No misfortune having
happened, I kept on to a monument which seemed to have
been the chief work of this Laotian architecture, but was now

124' TRAVELS -IN INDO^CHINA.

stripped of grandeur as xs'ell as ruined, though, one could not
deny it a certain aii- of elegance. This monument had been
spared by the Siamese. The two outer enclosm-es show no-
thing particular; but there is a. garland of bulging orna-
meiits over the cornice of the third court, like the petals of
a gigantic lotus on the point of opening. Heavy pediments,
covered with iuscriptions, support twenty slender spires.
Resting on these supports, as on buttresses, the mass on
which the pyramid lies begins to develop its lines, and the
pyramid itself shoots up from a sheaf of large leaves, like the
stalk of a plant. It has the traditional form, and ends in a
point. Formerly, it glittered with gold laid on a covering of
lead, of which some scraps still remain. The cement is in
good preservation everywhere. It has a ■uniformly dull ap-
pea,rance, which is deceptive, and leads one for a moment to
think the building must be of high antiquity; but from an
inscription on a stone in it, it does not go back farther than
the seventeenth century. Without going into detail, which
would be easy enough, I may say that, as a whole, the build-
ing pleased me. Its fine points and graceful spires rise from
the pleasing ground of a wood of palm-trees, which cast their
shadows over scattered huts of the natives. - The inmates
came offering us rice, honey which might have made the bees
of Hymettus jealous, and bowls of pahn-wine, an unfermented
and sweet-tasting drink, which flows from incisions in the
palm, like blood from a woimd. This hearty and sponta-
neous hospitality pleased us more than if we had had the
grand, reception given, two centuries .before, to oui- prede-
cessors the Dutch — companions of Van Vusthorf, fr-om whom
I shall borrow presently some curious details as to the offi-
cial ceremonies to which their . embassy gave rise. I drew
little pleasm-e from these ruins of -Vien-Chan. The temples
and the palace have left nothing to be seen under their
ruined gilding but badly-joined bricks. . It is a stage deserted
by the actors, which Time, that great destroyer, despoils day
by day of its last ornaments. Besides, a civilisation which
found room only for bonzes, mandarias, and kings, is hardly
worth the study. As to the architectm-e it produced, the
type maybe seen to-day in most of the pagodas of Bangkok.
One of these,' that specially set apart for the devotions oi

GEOGRAPHY UNDER DIFFICULTffiS. 125

the king of Siam, contains the famous emerald statue -which
Pha-tajac carried oflffrom Vien-Chan m 1777. It is a cubit
in height; and, according to M^ Pallegoix, the English value
it at more than a million francs.

In the different contributions of the various geographers
who have tried to draw up a map of Indo-Cniina, from the
laborious collation of hints given by a few travellers, and
detaUs wormed out of the natives themselves, it is, as a rule,
impossible to recognise Vien-Chan, under the double veil of
vague topographical details, and of the false spelling, which
does not always reproduce the sound of the local pronuncia-
tion. To tiiis, no doubt, is owing the uncertainty that has
long reigned as to the true geographical position of that
town. Crawftu'd ca,Ils it La,hg-C!hang, and says that it is
situated in 15° 15' of north latitude; Low and Berghaus
give it the names of Lanchang aiid Lantschaiig ; Macleod
places it in 17° 48' of south latitude, which is somewhat near
the true position, but the indefatigable English explorer
confounds it with Muong-luan-Praban, a distinct kingdom,
througli which we passed soon after. Marini, in his history
of Laos, calls the inhabitants of this country the Langians, .
and gives the name of Langione to their principal town,
which, he says, is situated in the eighteenth degree of lati-
tude. He makes only a slight mistake in fixing the place
ihus, and his book furnishes the most exact information re-
specting this kingdom, which he attempted to evangelise.
He saw the places, the men, iand the things. At the same
time, as Father Marini travelled in these regions, the Dutch
embassy took place, to try to arrange relations with the chief
king of Laos. Since then no European has penetrated so
far.

These Dutchmen took eleven weeks to ascend the Me-
kong, fi-om the frontier of Cambodgia to Vien-Chan, which
they call Winkyan. They used the same narrow canoes as
we, and surmounted the same obstacles in the same way.
One even asks himself, in reading the journal of their voyage
over again at this day, how any person could ever have had
any hope of. the river proving navigable. AMiere we found
nothing but ruins, Gerard van Vusthorf and his, companions
found a flourishing town. Dubois gives the following ac-

126 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

coimt of their reception by the king : ' As they approached
the capital, some officials came to demand from the chief of
the embassy a sight of his letters of credence, before they
could be sent forward. These letters having been examined
and found in proper form, three large canoes, with a crew of
forty I'owere each, were sent to carry the ambassador and
his suite to their destiaation,

' They put the letters on a gold dish set under a magni-
ficent canopy, and the Dutchmen placed themselves behind
them. A mandarin was ordered to conduct them to the lodg-
ings prepared for them by the king; and then, they were
saluted by another mandarin, in the name of the prince,
who caused refreshments and some gifts to be offered them.
There was no delay in fixing the day of the audience, to
which the ambassador was conducted with much pomp. An
elephant earned the letter of the governor-general in a golden
vessel, and five other elephants bore the ambassador and his
people. They passed before the palace of the king, through
a double line of soldiers, and at last reached one of the gates
of the town, with walls of red stones, surrounded by a broad
dry ditch, filled with undergrowth. After a quarter of a
league's farther march, the Dutchmen descended fi-om their
elephants, and entered the tents pitched for them, while they
awaited the orders of the king. The plain was covered with
officers and soldiers on elephants or horses, and all encamped
under canvas. After an hour, the king appeared on an ele-
phant, coming from the town with a guard of three thbu-
sand soldiers, some armed with muskets, the rest with pikes.
A train of several elephants followed, all ridden by armed
officers ; next, came a troop -of players on instruments ; then,
some hundreds of soldiers. The king, who was saluted by
the Dutchmen as he passed their tents, did not seem, to them,
over twenty-two. After a short time the women defiled, on
sixteen elephants.^ As soon as the two corteges were out
of sight of the camp, every one reentered his tent, where
the king caused the Dutchmen to dine.

2 According to Marini, the name of Langione means a tliousand ele-
phants. Laos is certainly one of the cotmteiea where you meet most of
these animals. A Laotian told Crawfurd that they used them even to
carry ladies. This shows clearly that they did not know what to do with
them. else.

THE J3U.TCH AT VIEN-CHAN. 127

' At fom- in the afternoon the ambassador was led to the
audience, across a large open space in a square court sur-
rounded by -walls, with a number of embrasures, and a great
pyramid coated with plates of gold, about a thousand pounds
in weight, in the middle of it. This monument was looked
on as a god, and aU the Laotians paid their adorations to
it. The presents of the Dutch were brought in, and laid
fifteen paces from the prince. They, then, presently, led the
ambassador iato a temple, where they found the king amidst
all his nobles. The customary homage was then offered, the
ambassador holding a taper in each hand, and striking the
gi-oimd three times with his forehead. After the compli-
ments usual on such occasions, the king presented him with
a golden basin, and some robes, and gave other gifts to the
various members of his. suite.

* The spectacle of a mock battle was then shown, and a
kiad of ball, ending with a fire of artillery, was given They
passed that night in the town, which was an unprecedented
thing, and in the morning were led back, on four elephants,
to their lodgings. After that day, the ambassador was taken
several times to com-t, and they did their best to provide all
imaginable amusements for him. After having stayed two
months at Winkyan, he set out again for Cambodgia, which
he reached only after fifteen weeks, much satisfied with the
success of Hs mission.'^

If the finances of the kingdom allowed the sovereign to
exhibit such pomp on solemn occasions, his ai-my seemed
able to command the respect of his ambitious neighbours.
The country was so populous, that 500,000 men were re-
turned, in a military census, as fit to bear arms, exclusive of
the old — 'who were eo numerous and so robust, that even of
those of a hundred years of age,' a very considerable army
might have been formed, if there had been need. These
figures, in spite of their evident exaggeration, prove that
the population of the kingdom was then large; but it had not
always been so. When the sovereigns of China, after effect-
ing the imion of their vast empire, thought of laying a yoke,
of which the effects still remain, on all their neighbours, the

8 Vie des Oouverneurs-generaux aux Indes Orientates. La Haye, 1763.

128 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

Laotians at first escaped the invasions of these insatiable
<;onc[uerors no more than the people of Tonkia, the Siamese,
or the Cambodgians. Dispersed along the banks of the Me-
kong, with no central point to which to rally and combine
their strength, they gave only a feeble resistance ; but they
gradually drew together, and ultimately formed a kind of
republic.

This organisation, so favourable to the development of
the vii-tues which make or. save a "country, seems to have
lasted till the fifth or sixth century of our era, and. enabled
the Laotians' to drive out the Chinese. At that time the
state became monarchical, and, perhaps, the . origin of yien-
Chan, which, was destined, later, to become the brilliant
capital of the most powerful Laotian kingdom', is to He re-
ferred to that time. If the old writer, from whom I have
obtained these, facts, can be trusted, the people of Siam came
to Laos to help the Laotians * to people their kingdom,' and
settled in it permanently, from the fertility of the soil and
the. mildness of the climate. Of a lazy and slothful natiire,
at. once incapable and unworthy to preserve a republican
form of government,, the Laotians felt the need of intrusting
a single person with the sole responsibility of power; but
they could not agree on a sovereign, through ambition, fear,
and envy. The Siamese, who are clever people, took care,
dming these struggles, to divide the electors, and neglected
nothing to corrupt them. To the ambitious they promised
the government of a province, and made gilded pyramids and
pagodas glitter in the eyes of the devout. These schenies
succeeded, and the name of a member of the royal family, of
Siam came fi'om the urn in "which, at the same .time,, the
liberty of the country was bmied. 'It is believed,' adds
Marini, 'that though it is. inore than a thousand years since
that time, the kings of Laos are descended froin.that stock,
since they retain the Siamese idiom and their style of di-ess.'

Though this assertion is probably a tradition obtained, on
the spot, it seems hardly possible to regard it seriously. The
analogy of customs, of manners, and, above all, of languages,
whichexists between the Siamese and' the Laotians, indicates
a common origin ; but is it not equally allowable, from it, to
suppose, H;hat the Siamese came from Laos ? Some savants

HISTORY OF LAOS. 129

3ave tliouglit so. It is Lard to believe that the action of a
•oyal family, however powerful we may suppose it, could, in
ill these things, have produced the results Mariui attributes
;o it. But however it be, that young dynasty, which soon
Decame despotic at home, freed Laos from all foreign subjec-
;ion. It was even able to force respect for its territory on
^hina, and to lend a helping hand, many times, to its enemies.
During the war which the emperor Tching-tsou-wen-ti waged
igainst Tonkin, at the beginning of the fifteenth century,
;he Laotians openly gave asylum to the conquered. The
Chinese general had hardly beaten and dispersed the enemy,
)efore other rebels, supported by the prince of Laos, continued
;he struggle. Tching-ki-Kouang, their chief, himself, sought
efnge in the Laotian tenitory. The Chinese general de-
nanded that this dangerous rebel should be delivered up to
lim; and the king, fearing an invasion from two Chinese
irmies, which were massed on the frontiers of Tonkin and
funan, drove him fi-om his states, outside the limits of
vhich the unfortunate man was taken prisoner.

The Chinese were not the only adversaries of the king
)f Laos. The ambition of the king of Burmah, rather ex-
sited than satisfied by the conquest of Pegou, soon turned
owards Laos, of which he made himself master'. Adopt-
ng a custom of wholesale deportation, still in use in these
lountries,* he forced a great many Laotians to settle in Pe-
fou, to people his new conquest; but they formed a vast
ionspiracy, and exterminated the Pegouans, everywhere, at
he same time. The old slaves, become masters, reentered
/^ien-Chan in arms, and made a fi-esh carnage of their con-
[uerors, whom they surprised while defenceless. The con-
[uest of this pai't of Laos, and the annihilation of its brilliant
iapital, was reserved neither for the Chinese nor the Bur-
aans. The people who had triumphed over these terrible
memies became ultimately tributary to Siam, but at what
late is not known exactly. Perhaps it was the result of the
var of 1777. It extended, however-, only to the payment of
ribute, not the cession of temtorial rights.

■* At the end of last century, when the king of. Siam made himself
laster of Battambang on the Cambodgia, he drove out all the inhabitants,
nd replaced them by others.

K

130 TRAVELS IN' INDO-OHIXA.

The Annamites, on tlieir side, spread themselves along
the Mekong valley. The left bank belonged to them, Tvith-
out dispute, at the commencement of this century, from the
sixteenth degi-ee of north latitude to the seventeenth degree,
so far as that, -u-ithin these limits, the provinces situated be-
tween the Mekong and the great ch.ain of moimtains which
ends at Cape Jacques were under the Annamite empire, and
paid tribute to its sovereign.

M. de Lagree having been specially charged by Admiral
de La Grandiere to determine the boundaries of that empire,
and to ascertain as much as possible respecting the provinces
to which they raised pretensions, had made persevering,
but unsuccessful, inquiries on these points during our Aasit to
Attopee, yet he had found higher up, on exploring alone the
., basin of an affluent of the Mekong, the Se-Banghien, incon-
i testable proofs of the political and administrative authority
! of the king of Annam over this part of Laos. Hence, if in
the com-se of years and events, France should find herself
heir to the claims of a government, which cii'cumstances of
themselves Avill one day force her either to protect or de-
stroy, she would not want titles to establish her domination
over these vast deserts, which Em-opean genius alone can
make fruitful.

However it may be, the king of Vien-Chan had not to
protect himself against these eastern neighbours, the cloud
laden with disaster, of which we ourselves saw the fearful ex-
tent, burst on this unhappy prince and his subjects, came from
tbe south-west. At the close of 1827, events, with the de-
tails of which I am not acquainted, caused a ruptm-e between
the court of Bangkok and Laos, and it was followed by a
war of extermination. From accounts which, though, per-
haps, not minutely, are yet essentially, correct, it appears
that an omission, either in the ceremonial of homage, or in
the payment of the amount of tribute due to the king of
Siam, was followed by the sending an army to Laos, -vvith
orders to annihilate the imfortunate people — orders fulfilled
yrith. a completeness and cruelty which we, with our manners,
can hardly comprehend. The Laotians were exterminated,
or carried off en masse, and their capital rased to the gTound,
as Jerusalem once was by the Roman armies. Cliao-ko-

FALL OF VIEN-CHAN. 131

un/ a general wliose name still fills these countries, put tlie
seal by this horrible transaction to a military reno-wn, gained
at the cost of Cambodgia, in the wars to the principal events
of which I have already referred.* I saw at Houdon, before
the ancient palace of Norodom, the huge statue of this mur-
derer of nations, which, by an insolent requirement of the
Siamese, abolished only by the French protectorate, the Cam-
bodgians had to salute humbly, as often as they passed
—an ignominy to which this troop of slaves submitted with-
out ever feeling a sentiment of noble resistance; so com-
pletely is force, even in its most hideous excesses, accepted
among these nations as the only legitimate power.

The king of Vien-Chan, and several princes of his family,
having succeeded in escaping the vigilance of the enemy,
sought reftige in Hu^; but the fierce Minh-man, who then
reigned over Annam, far fi-om protecting the fugitives, as
they had hoped, sent the fallen king to Bangkok, in accord-
ance with a secret agreement made with Siam; and there
the poor wretch, shut up, they say, in an iron cage along
with the iustraments of tortui-e, with which they agonised
him day by day, soon died, leaving the last survivors of his
race so utterly abased, that the conqueror could no longer
find any pretext for offence with them.

Thus a flouiishing capital has been annihilated in om*
own days, and an entire people has, in some sort, disap-
peared, without Europe ever having suspected such scenes
of desolation — without even a solitary echo of this long cry
of despair having reached her. When I, hereafter, cross
vast fields of massacre in the Chinese empire, I shall have to
lift the veil from scenes not less bloody and not less un-
known, — scenes which show human life running in bloody
streams, without leaving either trace or remembrance, like
the waters of a great fiood lost in the sands. If the revolu-
tions and wars which turn Christian Europe upside down are
sometimes followed by beneficial changes ; if it be possible

* The word Chao-koun means a Mgli rank in the mihtaiy hierarchy ;
but the terror of the Laotians has made a proper name of it ; so that -when
you speak of Chao-koun, without anything more, they think with trembUng
of their executioner.

' See the Introduction.

132 TRA^'ELS IN INDO-CHINA.

to connect them with some philosophical doctrine, or some
grand social interest, the calamities which the Bouddhist and
Mussulman populations of Asia endure remain always barren
sorrows, and disasters that have no compensation. Nothing
■ever springs from these torrents of blood; for the conquerors
are destroying angels for these unfortunate peoples, and
their armies clouds of locusts, exhausting for many genera-
tions the countries on which they alight.

CHAPTER IV.

^HE KINGDOM OP LUANG-PRABAN. EXCEPTIONAL POSITION OF
THE KING OF THIS COUNTRY TOWARDS THE COURT OF BANG-
KOK. HELP WHICH HE RENDERED THE COSOHSSION. TOJIB
OF HENRI MOUHOT. SPRING FEASTS.

There would be a great risk of deceiving oneself, if the de-
cree of civilisation in any people were always measured by
he development of architectui-e among them. Of all the
aonuments of Europe, those most worthy of admiration be-
ong to ages which many writers of the day call barbarous ;
"or the generations of the middle ages, kindled to enthusiasm
)y their faith, and by enthusiasm to genius, have left as a
ecord of their lives those noble cathedrals which we imitate
vithout the ability to equal.

The traveller who seeks to restore the history of nations
hat have disappeared, must not, however, be hindered from
nterrogating the ruins buried in the sands of the desert, or
inder the soil of the forest. These ruins become, often, a
iruitftd sotirce of precious information, in the absence of
srritten annals, or even of tradition. It was in this way
;hat, in exploring the wreck of Vien-Chan, the ancient Lao-
ian metropolis, we came on characteristic traits of the
j-overnment which had had its seat in this ruined town.
Temples and a palace were what might be called the sym-
Dolic columns of this strange social edifice ; and I must
idd, that these pagodas and that royal dwelling had no real
Grandeur. While the old Cambodgians brought the enorm-
nis blocks of stone, which they knew how to build up and
3culptui-e with inexhaustible art, from a distance of nearly
ten leagues, the Laotians built walls of brick, badly put
together with plaster, covered with gross pictures, which

134 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

could not stand the dampness of the climate for any length
of time, for ornament. The one seem to have had no faith
in their future ; the others to have counted on centm-ies of
power for their country. Cambodgia has been, in fact, to all
appearance, the first nation firmly organised in Indo-China :
it played a preponderating part for long; and its name, which
is often quoted in the sacred books, is stiU the object of the
veneration of Bouddhists even in countries the farthest fi.'om
its frontiers. I must not return to this subject, of which I
have spoken ah-eady; but, before leaving Vien-Chan, the
most important poHtical centre of the old independent Laos,
it is fitting to ask, what could be the origin of this Laotian
people, whose settlement in the Mekong valley seems to have
been comparatively recent? From what point of the horizon
did those invaders come, who are still at times forced to
struggle with savage tribes, driven back, but not destroyed?
The resemblance which I have noticed between the Laotian
and Siamese languages — a resemblance which cannot be
ascribed to conquest— permits the inference that the two
races are branches fi'om the same trunk; but where did the
tree grow? what country must we assign as cradle to those
men, who, after having expelled the fii-st occupants of the
Meinam and Mekong valleys, ended by mutual slaughter in
fratricidal strife ? The igiiorance of the Laotians, the almost
total loss of their traditions, and, lastly, the necessities of
our jom-ney, which had geographical aims more than any
other, made the elucidation of this problem impossible ; and
we can only answer these questions by pure hypothesis.
The most probable, and the only one, besides, which, so far
as I can see, is supported by the vague indications received
from the mouths of the natives, makes their ancestors the
descendants of the kingdom of Xieng-Mai, tributary at this
time to Bangkok. Before estabUshing themselves at this
place, and founding a state there, did they come from Thibet,
along the valley of one of the great rivers which flow be-
tween the Brahmapoutra and the Yang-tse-kiang? Did
they come fi-om the west? or are they, rather, the result of
two different races, which in early ages met, became allied,
and became one? It would be unwise to decide the ques-
tion. It will be only by a more thorough study, and by the

ORIGIN OP THE LAOTIANS. 135

jomparison of the languages, that some sparks will one day
3e struck into the bosom of this profound night.

None of us could commit himself to this serious uuder-
iaking ; and, therefore, it is better to be silent, at the risk of
ippearing incomplete, than to run the danger ofmislead-
ng the investigations of men especially devoted to such
iubjects, by a display of artificial learning and improvised
icience. Indo-China is, besides, the most fi-uitful field -which
;he savants who seek to discover the lost sources of that
^and stream, whose waves are nations, and to make out,
n some sort, the genealogy of humanity, can ever explore,
jike the deep bays dug out on om* shores, where opposing
juiTents dash against each other with violent and continu-
ous agitation, this part of the world seems to have been the
point where peoples of different origins, whom constant
cvars have thrown together, without having absolutely con-
founded one with the other, have ntifet. Those bloody strag-
gles, which became, at times, in Eturope, the powerful agents
)f civilisation, have only served, in these sad countries, to
nake the passions fiercer, and the hatreds more bitter : no
i-uitful germ has ever sprung on this soil, watered with so
nuch blood.

The Bm-mans and the Siamese, like the Annamites and
the Cambodgians, were irreconcilable neighbours. A long
peace was impossible between these nations, thrown into
uxtaposition by the accidents of emigration ; and European
ntervention, though denounced at fii'st by a patriotic instinct,
rooted even in the heart of savages, wiU, for certain, be one
lay acknowledged a benefit by the populations to which it
secures repose and stabihty. It is to be always noted,
;hat if some races cannot coexist, from incompatibilities in
I sense organic, others, kept apart only by the ambition of
jrinces, will probably come to blend and lose themselves in
jach other. Between the Annamites, with their harshly-
iccentuated language, the ideographic characters of their
vriting, and their exclusively Chinese civilisation, and the
Hambodgians, who differ not less in their idiom than in
;heir national character, there is an abyss. K these last had
lot, at the nick of time, been put under the protectorate of
Trance, they would now, like the greater part of the Lao-

136 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

tians, have been absorbed in the Siamese monarchy, toTvards
which, it must be remembered, they are drawn by many
affinities.

The laws, the manners, and the faiths, seem to be the same
in these three coxmtries, moulded by a uniform civilisation.
Besides, with the system of government which prevails in the
East, it is a question whether it would be better for the sub-
jects to form independent kingdoms rather than to restore
a centralised empii-e ; perhaps, it is even more dangerous to
have to do with a long than with a simple prefect. However
this be, the Laotians, to whom the rains of their capital recall
the darkest pages of then- contemporary history, have lost,
seemingly for ever, the least desire for insurrection. We
knew that it was not thus in the part of this vast country
which we had yet to visit, and we hoped to find in Southern
Laos signs of independence, and traces of vitality. The sight
of the general decay of the people, among whom we had had
to live for the time, began to depress us, and we hastened to
reach Luang- Praban, the first kingdom of the valley of the
Mekong which could be regarded as a simple tributary of
Siam, and not as a province making an integral part of that
ambitious monarchy.

We left Vien-Chan in the afternoon of the 5th April 1867.
After leaving it, the look of the country changes. The river
buries itself between hills which soon become motmtains, and
push their rocks into the waters, like rugged roots. The
narrow bed of the Mekong was literally choked with them.
In spite of the smallness and extreme lightness of our canoes,
we had to halt for guides to take us beyond the dangerous
j)arts. The current soon becomes so strong, and the steep
masses of rock are so difficult to turn, that we had to aban-
don boat-hooke and paddles, and yoke ourselves to enormous
ropes of rattan. The Laotians, mounted on the blocks of red
sandstone, rising out of the water, had to catch with one
hand at the clefts of these ragged masses, and drag the
canoes towards them, with savage cries, with the other.
With then- cables, and their long iron poles, they might have
been taken for those sea-robbers, who, in the fifteenth cen-
tury, lived prosperously, in Brittany, on the produce of ship-
wrecks. When a point, round which the water boiled, had to

THE MEKOXG. 137

be doubled, or the otlier bank had to be reached throTigh
whirlpools, the captain of our canoes never failed to address
resounding prayers to heaven.

For several days' sail the banks of the Mekong were nearly
deserted. It is only very rarely that huts, built in less time
than it takes to pitch a tent, reminded us that men lived in
these forests. The inhabitants of these fragile dwellings
escape in good measure from forced labour, by the difficulty
of reaching them; so that it was not without trouble we got
them to lend a hand and help our crews, who were exhausted
by fatigue. They grounded their unwillingness, mostlj, on
their wish for om* safety, the river being, as they said, im-
practicable at this season of the year.

We were forced to confess that these brave people were
not altogether wrong. The rocks grew thicker, and the
waters rushing against them furiously, it soon became dear
that we could not advance farther without peril. We, there--
fore, unloaded our canoes, and seeing some traders who were
passing very opportunely, the petty mandarin appointed to
conduct us forced them to lay their goods on the ground,
and to carry our baggage. They had to do so for several
kilometres; but when we wished to pay them for their
services, they could not understand such liberality, being too
much accustomed to violence to expect anything like justice.

It was April, when the waters are at the lowest. The
Mekong was only a couple of torrent-like streams, of immense
depth. The part of its bed left diy was a curious sight.
Most of the rocks by which it is fretted are of bright colours,
so that it looked, sometimes, as if we were walking between
walls of polished marble. A little torrent, running over a
blue-and-white bottom, made a deHcious natural mosaic,
which seemed formed of lapis-lazuli and alabaster. We en-
camped, at last, on the sand, in improvised huts. From
the top of the rock, from which the national colom-s floated,
we had at om- feet one of the greatest rivers of Asia re-
duced to two arms, narrower than those of the Seine, round
the island of St. Louis; but when we threw the lead, there
was no bottom.

Om- cabins of leaves were in the midst of a vast arena,
sm-rounded by an amphitheatre of hills. Wild beasts called

138 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

and answered eacli other round us. We heard the hoarse
cry of stags, and, also, towards night, the sharper voice of
the tiger ; an invisible enemy, against which the Laotians
protected themselves by raising a small chapel to Bouddha
on the edge of the forest. These poor creatures, who, if we
can believe some conunentators, wore aspiring to annihila-
tion, as the highest felicity promised by then- faith, held on
to life ; held on to it, like the most wretched of om- peasants,
and like them, when they thought themselves in danger,
tried to protect it by an act of faith and a fervent prayer.

If the Kghtest canoes stop at some of the dangerous
places in ascending the river, it is very different when they
go down. A skilftil pilot then abandons himself to the
cm-rent, and directs his skiff, which is carried forward with
a giddy swiftness, by a bold stroke of the paddle. Even
great covered rafts, some of them twenty metres in length,
are trusted to this perilous voyage; and although they have
barely room to turn in the sharp bends, where the river is
hardly forty metres across, shipwrecks are rare. I visited
one of these merchant vessels, loaded with ivory and bales
of cotton, which is cultivated in all this region on a large
scale, in spite of the fewness of the villages.

The debilitatiag influences of the climate had very much
weakened our ardour in hunting, and our table suffered cor-
respondingly. We encamped as seldom, and for as short a
time as possible, at a distance from villages, to escape the
pain of hearing, with an empty stomach, hypothetical roasts
belling out in the thickets round us. The chief place of
the next province was Sien-Kan, which we reached on foot,
marching all day over the burning sand, without any shelter
from the heat of the sun. The heat was so great, that even
the natives could not pass a pool of water without plunging
their heads into it. My ears were ringing. I looked about
without seeing, and entirely lost command of myself; myi
limbs went like a machine wound up,' and without con-
sciously receiving any impulse from the brain. The path
plunged at last into a forest of bamboos ; but our guide
persisted in marching behind us, and if we ultimately
reached Sien-Kan, it was thanks to the river, which, moan-
ing in the distance, directed oui- march.

SIEN-KA>r. 139

Sien-Kan, — called, also, Muong-Iilai, New Muong, in con-
trast to Muong-Cao, Old Muong — is the chief place, but is
as destitute of anything distinctive as it is of importance.
Though the governor -was away, on a visit to one of his
confreres on the borders of the Meinam, we were well re-
ceived. They expected us, and oui- dwelling, which was
made ready beforehand,, was constructed on the model of
those we had occupied before. The voyage lost, each day,
in my eyes, something of the charms with which my ima-
gination had pleased itself with surrounding it. Illusion
was no longer possible. As long as we were in a Siamese
country, the most tiivial adventm-e was not to be hoped for.
There worJd have been more chance of one in crossing the
Abruazi.

At Sien-Kan a lively sensation was, however, in store for
us. Some wandering merchants put up close to us. In
these countries, where there is no press, these traders are
peripatetic newsmongers, and supply their customers with
gossip as well as cotton checks, taDdng all the time they are
selling. Very soon the most astounding and most depress-
ing news flew from their shops, and came to overwhelm
us. The English were at Luang-Praban ; they came from the
kingdom of Xieng-Mai, and consisted of a company of ex-
plorers made up of several officers and a numerous escort.
A general who sees his combinations destroyed, and a battle
of which he felt sure lost by a manoeuvre of the enemy; an
artist who sees his own conception in the pictm-e of a rival,
: — are not more cruelly heart-struck than we were by the an-
nouncement of an event which would take the glory fi-om
our enterprise, and deprive us of all the honour. We left
Sien-Kan under the painftd influence of these rumours, think-
ing of the sad figure we should make before our rivals ; we,
who had started a year ago, and yet were distanced by
bhem. Material difficulties came, besides, to help to cloud
our brows. We could not get canoes enough, and had to
go two by two in these narrow prisons.

.A Laotian informed us, in passing, that the English had
left Luang-Praban, that they were rapidly descending the
civer, and that we should soon see their rafts. Then they
tiad not continued their voyage beyond Luang-Praban? Ex-

140 TRAVELS IX INDO-CmNA.

celknt news ! But they were descending the Llekong— sad
counterpoise ! They will, on their return, publish their ob-
servations. We shall be almost lost. It was none the less
necesssary to dissimulate, and to prepare to receive them.
Om- hencoop is emptied by slaughter; a peacock is roasted
on the brazier ; we are about to renew over a dinner hypo-
critical demonstrations of cordial alliance. nature, virgin
and wild, what profanation ! If some Alcestis had fled from
men on these desert banks, he would thi-ow himself into one
of the whirlpools of the river, as he listened to us. For my-
self, who cherish no professional hateful jealousy against
England, I shared, fi.-om duty, in the general vexation; but I
could not help laughing in my beard. Lunettes are levelled;
a raft appears in the distance, gliding carelessly over the
waters; good eyes see Englishmen clearly, and they are
pointing their fingers at us. The raft approaches. It hails
us. It is a splendid floating house, ^\ath a verandah before
and behind, its height enormous, its proportions magnificent.
"V^Tiat luxury ! what comfort ! An EngUshman is seen mak-
ing his toilet. For myself, though short-sighted, I continue
to see nothing but Siamese crouching and smoking their
cigarettes. The most iU at ease smooth their faces, and
wait in the sun. Still, no one shows himself, except an
oflScer — of the king of Siam. He announces that the Eng-
lish follow close behind; that there are three of them; and
that they are busy with the geography of the country.
Smiles turn to grimaces. A second raft is on the horizon,
and there is fresh anxiety. Keen eyes distinctly see the
French flag floating fi.-om the top of their vessel. It is from
courtesy; but courtesy is easy to those who have won.
surprise ! The French colours are Dutch, identical with om-s,
as every one knows, except in the order in which they are
an-anged. The raft keeps the middle of the stream, passes
openly before us, and no Em-opean answers our signals. It
is evidently a crafty, diabolical ruse of British insolence; just
like them! Concentrated wrath succeeds disappointment.
At the moment the raft is about to disappear in a bend of
the river, it steers to the bank, and stops. A card is brought
us from *M. X — , land-surveyor and architect of his Siamese
majesty's government.' M. de Lagree sends his second ofii-

A?f ADVENTURE. 141

cer, who finds, instead of an Englishman, a Bata^nan in the
service of Siam, flanked by two mulatto servants. The
poor devil seemed to have only the one thought, of escaping
the rains, which, according to him, spare no European in
these quarters. He showed his wonder to see that we
were ready to face them. The information he had gathered
on the way, about us, repaid for the annoyance which the
popular rumours about him had caused us. Applying the
same rule to both expeditions. Fame had given proof of an
impartial exaggeration on both sides. If she had seen in a
single wretched creature several English officers, and in two
half negroes a munerous escort, her hundred voices had an-
nounced that we were sixty instead of six, and that the
Aunamites in omr suite formed a vexitable amiy. The Siamese
agent had been thoroughly fiightened at these reports, and
trembled to meet us, I can hardly see why. He had formed
a resolution to take advantage of the cm-rent of the river
to bm"n om- camp, and only laid it aside when he saw the
peaceful look of om- little group. Nothing was left but to
laugh as we thought of the fable of the floating sticks..

The king of Siam, whose attention had probably been
di-awn to these countries by our expedition, wished to know
exactly about his kingdom. To satisfy this legitimate cm-i-
osity, he had sent a European, provided with chronometers,
with a quadi'ant and compass, and ordered him to note the
topography of the provinces bordering the Meinam and the
Mekong. This trader had a thousand francs a month for his
work, and travelled as a mandarin. He had left the banks
of the Meinam at Utharadit, in about 17"^ ofnoi-th latitude,
and had ascended by land to twenty leagues beyond Luang-
Praban. He had only stopped from regard for the Siamese
functionary who was with him, who had been near having
his head taken ofl" within the boimds of a province that had
succeeded in shaking ofi" the Siamese yoke. After long
months passed in the most perfect seciu-ity, with no other
incidents than om- daily halt, with none of those perils that
inflame the imagination, sicknesses weaken instead of rous-
ing courage; and I saw with joy, in a near, though yet
dim, future, a different existence.

The passport drawn up at the chancellery of Bangkok,

142 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

which had opened every door to us, and made everything so
easy, -would soon be useless, or even dangerous. We were
about, at last, to see countries where they cut off Siamese
heads. I may deserve to be accused of ingratitude, but I
confess I was delighted by the prospect. Already, it is true,
the aspect of nature was greatly changed, but it had been
so very imperceptibly. The mist, accustoming us to rapid
changes of -^new, had made us impatient of those slow trans-
formations, which come on almost insensibly, and are pre-
pared for and almost anticipated. A mountain, which would
have captivated us if it had been seen on a sudden, left us
unmoved, because it came only after a range of hills.

The people had nothing about them to distm-b us ; and I
soon found, that in Laos, as in Europe, ennui is the child of
unifonnity. But since leaving Vien-Chan, we felt some pride
in having before us a region that had never been explored ;
for the Dutch ambassador sent in the seventeenth century to
the king of Laos had not gone beyond the capital, where the
sovereign resided. The river alone continued to interest us
by its caprices. The changing aspect of its bed ; the colour
of its waters, here impetuous, troubled, and crowned with
foam; there calm and almost transparent; its windings to
get round obstmctions ; the effort it made to throw them
over : eveiything, in this, was firesh or imposing.

At the eighteenth degi-ee the Mekong makes a bend
which is not on any map, and it does not turn to the north
again, till after having inchned for nearly two hundred miles
to the west. The village of Paclai, which marks the end of
this bend, was the point farthest from Bangkok, at which we
had rested since leaving Crache. The caravans coming from
the upper parts of the river land there, to go on to the capi-
tal of the kingdom of Siam ; and the merchants going to
Luang-Praban, or the higher provinces, in the same way em-
bark there. This poor village would soon grow, if commerce
were any way active ; but it is still in an embryo state.
Every one supports himself only, and Paclai sees more func-
tionaries passing on the way to Bangkok, or returning, than
bales of silk or cotton. M. Mouhot, our scientific compatriot,
came to Paclai, to look at the river before continuing a jour-
ney which death speedily closed. A portrait of this unfor-

PACLAI. 143

unate naturalist, which we showed the head man of the
ullage, reminded him of some sharp suffering caused by
oilet--\dnegar given him by the traveller as an excellent
emedy for something or other, but which the too-credulous
:lient had rubbed into his eyes.

Magnificent forests closely hemmed in the village of Pa-
ilai ; streams of quick-flowing water ran under the trees ;
he birds were not contented, as in Cambodgia and Lower
jaos, with showing-off their bright plumage, but had turned
ausical, and began to sing. They seemed by their concerts
o link themselves with the rejoicings which the festival of
ipring bi-ings back each year at that season. '\\Tien the time
)f celebration comes, the girls saturate their hair with an
ixtra quantity of hog's lard and castor-oii, and -walk about
n gala dresses, with fragi-ant flowers in their hands, and s,
ed scarf on their bosoms, intended less to hide their breasts
han to set off the yellow saffron tint with which they dye
heir skia. Such manifestations were needed to remind us
hat it was spring, because in those regions, so dear to the
!un, growth is so rapid, that there is no hint of the months
i-om the slow advance of vegetation, which in our temperate
ilimate raises the sap in the trees by imperceived advances,
md gives such a chann to spring. It is a sort of magic, which
)ne enjoys with the eye, but in which the rest of his nature
las no part. The earth elsewhere seems to be conscious of
he transformation; it shakes off its winding-sheet of hoar-
rost, and makes a visible effoi-t to escape from its tomb,
lere, on the contrary, it seems to yield passively to secret
nfluences. It is not a Lazarus raised from the dead, —
;oming from darkness to live again in the light, and feeling
he new life with a doxible intensity ; it is an odalisque, who
iwakes, turns herself gently towards her mirror, and puts
lowers in her hair.

At Paclai the river is calm, and pretty broad, and is
>edded between two straight banks of rock like the sides of
L canal. But for its depth, it might seem dug out by hmnan
lands; at least, this is the impression it makes on a traveller
,vho sees it in April, the last month of the dry season, for its
ippearance changes completely during the rains. The bed,
illed by the river when it is at its height, is fringed with

144 TRA-\T:LS IX IXDO-CHINA.

white sand, and is on a level with the trees of the forest ;
that which contents it when it is low — ^that is, sixteen or
nineteen metres beneath the high-water mark — is through
rock, and is largely strewn with huge stones. At a little
distance from the village are the ruine of a large fishery
estahlishment, looking like the wi'eck of a gi-eat town that
had been built of bamboos. Besides the sources of wealth
on its banks, the river contains in its slimy waters many
kinds of fish, which form a large part of the food of the Lao-
tians, who, indolent and hating work, pi-efer fishing to farm-
ing, and leave then- rice-ground when evening comes, to visit
the nets set in the morning in favourable places, or cast
lines, which the current carries along at the same rate as it
bears on their boats. We bought for a tikal — a Siamese coin
worth a little more than three francs — a fish a metre and a
half long, and as fat as a fed pig, with fiesh of the colour
and consistency of beef. The capture of one of these mon-
sters is a piece of good fortune for a family. It is cut into
strips and smoked, and supports them for long.

We left Paclai, on the 19th of April, for the capital of the
kingdom of Luang-Praban, to which that poor village be-
longs. The hills grow higher, come nearer, and hem-in the
river, fi-om which a belt of gray and rugged rocks separates
them, and they are covered with fine vegetation. The white
trunks of some kinds of huge trees stand out fi-omthe green,
like marble pillars. A sharp bend of the river shut it in
before us like a lake; and at the back of the pictm-e a high
mountain showed its steep outlines through a veil of blue
vapours, which seem to shiver in the cold.

The great chann of scenes of this kind is the brightness
of the light. The memory carries away fi-om these regions,
which are characterised by a kind of monotonous grandeur
more than by anything else, only a recollection of so many
landscapes flooded with light, a corner of the forest, or the
peak of a mountaia. A^Tien you get back to northern re-
gions, you have only to shut yom- eyes to bring back the
dazzling and lummous perspectives ; so wondrously do the
tropics fill one with their beams. The whole external world,
so little varied, so calm, so full of transparency and grandeur,
influenced me without my knowing it. I slighted enjoy-

A STORM. 145

ments which dulled my faculties. My sensations destroyed
the power of reflecting, and I felt myself on the slope which
leads up gifted souls to a state of dreamy contemplation, but
leads others to the verge of idiocy. I hardly know to which
Df these two results these fatal moods would have urged me,
bad they continued long enough ; but I am very grateful to-
day to the Laotians of my canoe, who were never very long-
in recalling me to reality. They were in the habit of piling
lip theu- inevitable sacks into a barrier far from fragrant,
between me and the landscape. These bags contained an
jxtra langouti, a little basket of rice, a box with the various
elements of their quids, not to speak of the rotten fish and
jther ingredients, which, joined to the odour of the natives
themselves, would have moved the most callous heart. My
ittention was, moreover, at times di-awn off to the difficul-
;ies of the navigation.

This becomes once more dangerous at a short distance
rom Facial Sharp rocks rise in the waters Kke needles,
md we had to get past them by a method already familial-
;o us — ^hauling om-selves on by a rattan cable. We entered
I gorge where mountains, softly lighted, rose in a second
ow behind the hills, reproducing their tossed and tumbled
ihapes as if they had been then- magnified shadows. The
!olom-s of the sky all at. once changed, the tints became
leeper, the water turned a strange hue like withered leaves,
he wind blew hard through the defile, the thunder echoed,
md the hail came down furiously. The hailstones, which
vere as large as musket-bullets, rattled against our leaf
oofs; the Laotian crew sheltered itself as it best could; and
lur Anhamites, to whom this phenomenon was quite new,
bought it was raining pebbles on their heads. The wild
ilephants, frightened, marched at random through the forest
m the river-bank, crashing the bamboos under their feet,
sdth a noise like that of bursting petards. The sky, the
arth, and the water were alike full of noise, and Nature
eemed to me more beautiftil in these sudden outbreaks than
1 her gloomy tranquillity.

We chose for our resting-place, that day, a little village
owering in a fold of soil between two mountains. A river
dUs its limpid waters, now swollen by the storm, by its side

L

146 TRAVELS IX INDOCHINA.

over a bed of flints. It is of recent erection, as may be seen
froin the age of the valuable trees, which the Laotians take
care always to plant even before building then- dwellings.
The poor people had been stripped bare of almost eveiy-
thing by the escort of the Dutch geogi-apher we had met.
The Siamese mandarin who commanded it had plundered
all along his route, in accordance with the hateful custom
which raises spoliation to a principle, and transforms the
fonctionaries of the court of Bangkok into brigands. They
are not authorised, it is true, to exact more than some speci-
fied things and services gratuitously, and these they can
only demand so far as they are needful for theii- travelling
requirements ; but they know that they need fear no censure,
and they hide under a kind of seventy-fifth article — a legis-
lative arrangement by which Eastern mandarinism puts
everything to rights for itself. I Avas thankful that the
terms of our passport, in compliance with om* personal wish,
obliged us to pay for men, boats, and provisions. It caused
us to be less thought of; but it will be a pleasant recollection
in connection with us, and when favom-able circumstances
come, it may bear good fruit.

For some time we met no more gi-eat affluents, but
numerous streams, and many brooks or ton-ents which fall
fi:om the mountains. We had finally left the plains, and
henceforth sailed through the midst of hills and bluffs. Our
canoes coasted along enormous rocks. We one day came
upon corpses in rush mats, at the turning of a promontory.
They were in a cleft, where the water had, perhaps, landed
them, to bear them off after a time, or, perhaps, they were
put there by the hands of the living. However fine such a
tomb may be, it is sad, when one feels oneself dying, not to
be able to reckon on a little earth near the hut where one
has lived. Of the three elements to Avhich man commits his
remains, water, always changing and obli^'ious by its nature
seems the least worthy of this mournful trust. The eartn
grows green again above us, the fire leaves ashes for our
family to venerate. Though they surround mortal agony
and burial with a crowd of noisy ceremonies, the Laotians
do not look on death as we do. That grand mystery terri-
fies them ; but that which they dread, above all, is lest the

LUANG-PEABAN. 147

ghost should revisit them. This danger seems less if they
annihilate or banish the body.

Masses of black shining rocks, which seemed as if they
had been varnished, encumbered the river once more so
much, as to leave it only a nan-o-w passage, through which
it darted, writhing. We had, therefore, once more to unload
our canoes, taking off even the light roimded roofs, which
it would not have been safe to have left on them. In spite
of these precautions, one of them filled while they were
dragging it along, and we saw nothing but the captain,
erect and impassive, notwithstanding the danger, his paddle
in his hand, and seeming to walk on the waves. When the
specially dangerous spots were thus passed, the flotilla re-
sumed its way. It needed all the strength and dexterity
of our boatmen not to be swept away in doubling some
points, where they had nothing, by which to hold on, and
1 terrible current bore down on them, with a smooth wall
aver their head and an abyss at their feet. As they knew
bhey were responsible for om* lives, they threw an ardour
into their task, demanded for then- self-preservation. They
30uld not drown such great mandarins as we with impunity.

From Nong-Cai the villages are thinly scattered, but the
jountry grows more populous as you approach Luang-Pra-
3an — a town famous through all Laos, but whose size, in con-
iradiction to the laws of perspective, grows less as we get
lear it. The Mekong is clear at last, for some time, of the
•ocks w^hich till then obstruct it: the outlines of the moun-
;ains lose their rigidity, the hiUs are covered with a rich and
nore varied vegetation, and the river flows round them in
loft bends. Free fi-om obstacles, it spreads out into a broader
)ed, and forms a vast sheet of calm water before the town.

Luang-Praban makes itself known by the top of a gilt
)yramid rising from amidst the trees, as our towns in Europe
ire announced from a distance by the steeples of churches.
Joats are di-awn up on the bank ; nets by the hundi-ed, hung
irom stakes, dry in the sun; immense rafts are being put
ogether ; others, smaller, in great numbers, float at anchor
rom long cables. We saw at once in this mean town, which
Ives by the river, signs of activity ; a sight so new to us,
bat we stopped to enjoy it : then, to let the authorities

148 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

know we had come, we struck our bronze gong with extra
force, as is the way with mandarins. We waited a long
time ; the curious gathered in groiips round us, but no official
presented himself to receive or du-ect us. IL de Lagree de-
termined, at last, to march into the town, at a venture, with
all the military following he could muster. On this, some
stir showed itself in the crowd, and we saw a fanctionary,
important so far as stoutness went, but mean in rank, run-
ning towards us. He told us, what was hardly likely, that
we were not expected, and that nothing had been prepared
for receiving us ; and added, that the king not liking us to
occupy the caravanserai near the palace, it would be neces-
sary, for the time at least, to content ourselves with the
small, black, and squalid house which he pointed out. If
the tone of this chamberlain was courteous, his language
was imperative. M. de Lagree consented to make use of
a slovenly and dilapidated lodging, but he announced his
intention to see the king next day, and have an explanation.
It was necessary to accede to the usual ceremonies. His
majesty would not rise to receive us on om* entering the
throne-room ; he wished to force us to remain sitting on the
ground in his presence, and we were Avdth difficulty allowed
to dispense Avith striking our foreheads on it, and crawling
towards him, like the natives.

M. de Lagree having energetically resisted these pre-
tensions, the plenipotentiary of the king yielded on all
these points, and we had the honour of being received on
the aftei'noon of May" 1st, 1867, by the sovereign of Luang-
Praban, who condescended to take three steps forward, and
to suffer us to shake hands with him. His throne was a
sofa of gilt wood, incrusted below with glass ; and on this
he squatted, chewing his betel, while we took our place
on benches. He was an old man with a wrinkled face,
and BO high an idea of his dignity, that it hardly allowed
him to open his mouth. He scarcely replied to om- ques-
tions, and took care never to speak to us directly. The
lords of the com-t and the body-guards knelt on both sides
down the : whole length of the hall, holding their sabres
and muskets in their hands with the martial air of sacristans
who carry the candles on a procession-day. The king con-

LUANG-PRABAN. 149

nted to examine the presents M. de Lagvee offered liim, and
e retired, not without once more grasping the royal hand.

It was easy to see, by the stiffness of this reception, that
e had to do with a man ui whose eyes the Siamese letters
ere not a sufficient guarantee. We had been told that he
as tenacious in exhibiting this quasi -independence, and
lat he wished to know us before displaying his sentiments,
e authorised us, however, to stay in his town, and even
vited us to mark out the site for our lodging, which he
roposed to erect at his own cost. We chose a spot con-
icrated by the ruins of a pagoda, which gave rise to count-
ss stipulations. We had to agree not to kill anything in
le enclosure of our camp, not to profane the soil by traces
Tour humanity; to live, in short, like pure spirits; promises
lore easy to make than to perform. Our bamboo huts were
)on ready ; a splendid banyan, the sacred tree, par excel-
nce, stretching its great arms over them.

We had at last come to a collection of houses and people
leriting the name of a town. We had seen nothing hke it
nee leaving Pnom-Penh. Without going the length of
'gr. Pallegoix, who sets down the population at eighty thou-
md, I am inclined to think M. Mouhot's estimate of seven
: eight thousand a little under the mark. From the top of
knoll which serves for base to an elegant pyramid, you
ferlook a plain covered with thatched roofs, shaded by a
irest of cocoa-trees. From this point, from which the eye
nbraces at once the whole panorama of the town, one
3ars the confused hiun which rises from all centres of human
jtivity, resembling, according to its intensity, the dull sound
f waves dying on the beach ; or, it may be, the hoarse roar
I billows dashed upon the rocks by the storm. To the ear
P the traveller, tired with vast solitudes, this confused mur-
lur, in which all articulate words are lost, is a delicious har-
Lony, The town of Luang-Praban, which is traversed for
1 its length by a great artery, parallel with the river, stretches
ong the two sides of a hill, bathed on one side by the Me-
ong, on the other, by the Nain-Kan. This little river throws
self into the great one by a sharp tui-n at the north-west
id of the town. The side towards the Nam-Kan is not less
sopled than that towards the Mekong. A crowd of filthy

150 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

lanes abut on the principal street; some slope rapidly, or are
made into staii-s, and paved with brick, or even with blocks
of rough marble, poHshed by the feet of the people. Mac-
adamising is not altogether unknown. It is strange that the
Laotians have so wholly neglected to take advantage of
the inexhaustible quarries of marble they have at hand, that
when they have wished to use some in ornamenting, for ex-
ample, the space before a pagoda, they should have thought
of bringing it from Bangkok, to which, if we can credit a
mandarin, who flattered himself that in giving us this de-
tail he would excite cm- admiration, it had previously been
brought from China.

. Luang-Praban forms a kind of rectangle, which is bounded
on three sides by running water. The fourth is shut in by
a Avail with five gates, which extends from the Nam-Kan to
the Mekong. At the point where this wall, hardly visible
under the growth which buries it, joins the great river, a
little sanctuary, on the very bank, white, with a round roof,
attracts attention : it protects the footprints of Bouddha,
impressed on a rock. We had seen at Angcor, on Mount Bak-
heng, and at different other places in Laos, hollows some-
what like a foot, in which the faithful fancied they saw foot-
steps left on the rock by the great reformer of the creed of
India — the venerated founder of theii- religion. The Siamese
have discovered phenomena of the same kind, and Mount
Phrdbat is a place of pilgrimage to the inhabitants of Bang-
kok, One can readily understand how an apostle claiming
to be inspired, and preaching a positive religion, should seek
to secure success by miracles : the power to work theni would
assuredly be the best of warrants, given by God himself, to
the representative he had chosen ; but if Bouddha appeared
on earth only to show men the way to annihilation, it is hard
to see whence he could derive the power to change the laws
of natm-e ; how, for example, he could dig out a deep hollow
in a rock by simply setting his foot on it. I know very well
that we have no right to lay on Bouddha, himself, the respon-
sibility of these simple credulities ; but they exist, and are
common, and, fantastic contradiction, the faith of the people
has become so distorted, that they acknowledge a god in him
who was, beyond all men, an atheistic philosopher ! I re-

bouddha's footstep. 151

ipect the grave intellects, and eminent writers, who, of late
?-ears, have expounded the theory of Bouddhism from this
)oint of view, too much, .to dispute their conclusions. I
jrant that the torch of analysis, borne with a firm hand into
he deepest obscm-ities of the Bouddhist doctrine, has revealed
I throne raised to annihilation at the bottom of the abyss; but
- do not think there is a single Bouddhist in Laos, who would
Dicture its extreme consequences thus, in giving an exact
statement of his belief. In any case, even supposing Boud-
iha really considered life as the supreme evil, such an idea
50uld not rise except in the heart of a man profotmdly moved
jy the miseries of his brethren; a dogma so depressing must
lave needed a soil watered with blood to develop it ; and,
u this light, Indo-China was a region especially well pre-
pared for it.

However it may be, the legendary foot of Charlemagne
ivas only a miniature alongside the foot of the god, whose
steps remind one of the famous cat of Perrault. From the
■iver-bank where he left the mark of one of his feet, the hea-
i^enly traveller, in visiting Luang-Praban, set down the other
)n the top of a little knoll, adorned now, in memory of the
iact, with an elegant pavilion supported on ten pillars. 'The
•oof is covered with coloured tiles, and edged with bells which
;inkle in the wind : the sacred footstep is in a grotto, at its
side, and is covered with leaves of gold. From this pictu-
■esque spot, which is reached by a very steep stair, the view
s magnificent. On one hand, stretch the great river and the
nountains which border it; a gap in the mass of the first
•ange lets the eye lose itself over distant undulations bathed
jx mist; nearer, you see the thatched roofs of the houses, and
the tiles of the pagodas, the trees with waving plumes, and
the tops of some pyi-amids ; on the other side, the eye ranges
xlong the valley of the Nam-Kan, which runs at the foot of
;he bluff, separating a great faubourg, planted, like the rest,
with cocoas and palms, from the town.

It was on the banks of the Nam-Kan, not far from the
?^illage of Ban-Napao, that the king of Luang-Praban caused
;he body of M. Mouhot, who had come there six yeai^ before,
md had died of fever, to be buried. This traveller had made
limself beloved, by the nativ_es, who still hold his memory in

152. TRAVELS IN IKDO-CHIXA.

respect; and the king himself paid a last homage to it, by
fiu-nishing,. at his own cost, the material for a modest monu-
ment, which we raised over the tomb of om- brave comitry-
man. Admiral de La Grandiere had specially charged M. de
Lagree.with this sad duty. He felt, that France, summoned
to resume in Indo-China the place she had lost in India, owed
recognition and regret to the hardy explorer, to whom she
had granted neither help nor encouragement Avhen they could
have been of use. Leaving London in a merchant vessel, in
Apiil. 1858, with some slight assistance from an English
learned society, Henri Mouhot had resolved, after a sufficient
stay at Bangkok, to explore the basin of the Meinam and
part of that of the Mekong. Having reached Luang-Praban,
he conceived the project of attempting, by the. ascent of this
latter river, the work which a near futm-e reserved for other
Frenchmen to accomphsh, who have been happier than he,
because they could support and encourage each other. Such
an enterprise was beyond the power of any single man. M.
Mouhot died in the midst of a vast forest, leaving, in the hut
where his lonely agony sought shelter, a journal continued
almost without a break to the day of his death, the. last page
of it, written with a hand ah-eady cold, containing a touch-
ing expression of his sorrows, tempered by religious con-
fidence.

The pagodas are numerous at Luang-Praban, and there
is some variety in the architecture. Each has a bonzery, and
the yellow dress abounds in the streets. They are well sup-
ported ; sometimes decorated richly, and not without taste.
In one I admii-ed an altar iacmsted with blue glass, in imita-
tion of enamel : on the blue ground, pleasantly lighted by
the soft rays of evening, a rose in relief, full blown, . -with
gilt petals, spread itself. In another pagoda, which rested.on
magnificent columns of wood, and was nearly circular, two of
the most beautiful elephant tusks that could be imagined,
have been placed near the principal statue. The chord of
the arc formed by these huge weapons of defence is a metre
and seventy-six centimetres across. As a rule, gilding and
vermilion are lavished on the ceilings and the piUars, and the
altar is heaped up with so many statuettes and ornaments,
that it might be taken for a shopkeeper's display.

BOUDDHIST FESTIVAL. 153

The services seemed regularly observed, and I was often
present at the evening ones in the pagoda nearest our camp.
The faithful, on their knees before a great statue of Boud-
3ha, listened, with the attitude of meditation, to the prayers
i-ead by a bonze, giving the responses, themselves, at long
ntervals. Lighted tapers, illuminated the building ; sweet-
mieUing canes burned at the feet of the god; and a charming
.ace-"work of flowers, woven each day by the women and chil-
iren, a perfumed and beautiful drapery, hung before the
iltar. The ceremony ended commonly with some notes of
nusic : the women beat a small bronze timbrel; then went out
;o the porch, laid flowers on some sacred stones, and watered
;hem, as they mm-mured their prayers. Not seldom they
ningled grains of rice with the. flowers; and I noticed that
;he poultry of the neighbourhood, into whom, perhaps, the
soul of some bonzes, dead in a state of sin, had passed, had re-
;ained from their former existence a very exact remembrance
)f the horn- of the offering. Besides the daily offices, the
Laotians have also periodical. :^tes, at some of which we had
ibeady been present. Those of spring, which we had seen
jegin at Pacla'i, were celebrated at Luang-Praban with a
loisy solemnity, in keeping with the size of the town and the
lumber of the population.. Natm-ally, yoimg people take
he greatest part in them. During the day, while the over-
lowering heatlasts, all is dull, for the Laotians themselves
luffer by the sun ; but hardly has this redoutable foe to plea-
lure disappeared behind the mountains of the right bank of
;he Mekong, than the air is full of din, from bm-sts of laugh-
;er, and,, wild songs, to which the dogs add then- voices. I
lad the curiosity to look on firom a distance at these noctur-
lal rejoicings. The white light of the moon threw silver
ints on the porticoes of the pagodas, on the pyi-amids, on
he. thatched roofs; the cocoas, the palms, and the light leaves
)f the clumps of bamboos defined themselves sharply against
he clear sky; and though no perceptible air came to stir the
Ltmosphere, the whole trembled before me Uke a dream,
vithout my being able to seize the moving outlines of
his magic picture. The nights are beautiful in the East,
ind the East is beautiful only at night; both men, and
hings gaiii by being seen in an uncertain light; the land-

154 TRAVELS IN JKDO-CHINA.

scape loses its monotony, and the civilisation of the spot its
grossness.

Under the dim vault formed in the distance by the great
trees, a shrill and piercing voice, all at once, sent up into the
air some extraordinary notes, to which a whole chorus of
women, walking very quickly, and soon coming up to where I
stood, answered in a more serious tone. My cm-iosity was
keenly excited ; I was as astonished as an ancient barbarian
would have been who had met in the streets of Eleusis a pro-
cession of matrons marching towards the temple of Ceres. I
resolved to be initiated into the mysteries. The solo began
again, and was followed by sharp, discordant cries, as if twenty
angiy women were stamping and shrieking, in competition, at
the top of their lungs, without thinking of the measm'e, only
caring that they should end at the same time. So far as the
vocal music went, this was all the concert. Young gnls were
the attraction. They escorted a great pyramid of flowers,
which was laid under a canopy in the porch of the pagoda
by the men who carried it. An old bonze, with his face hid-
den by a plume of feathers, said some prayers, and then the
crowd broke up. Young gu-ls and young men, their religious
duty finished, mingled together; and I went away, for it was
easy to see that the presence of a stranger checked their
freedom. The Bouddhist priest was about to be displaced
by the eternal minister of the one worship universally prac-
tised in the world, and I regained my chamber, not without
sadness. It was the first year which had had no spring for
me. I met other bands ; some went to the pagodas wili the
same solemnity ; others did not seem to trouble themselves
with the sacred character of the fete. Young men, the worse
for wine, chanted a Laotian bolero, or blew sounds out of
reeds tied together. Farther off, two violins of two strings,
a guitar, a flute, and cymbals handled like castanets, per-
formed a very simple, very original, and very lively air. The
dandies who gave this concert in the moonlight had a love
rendezvous as well. It was just as in France, where those
Avho would on no account go to a midnight mass, will on no
account stay from a midnight party. All these young Lao-
tians, dressed in a light cloak thrown over the shoulders, and
a large langouti which looked like huge, hose, had the confi-/

A GAMBLING-HOUSE. 155

dent and swaggering walk of our grand seigneurs of former
times, in pui-suit of rich heiresses.

A gambling-house stood near our hut, and men and wo-
men gave themselves noisily up to their passion, in it : a mat
stood for the green table, and.ticals for louis. The players,
who prepare themselves by libations of rice brandy for the
sensations of the gambling-house, have a bm-ning eye and a
shrivelled figure] the women, especially, are hideous; many,
who are no longer young, have enormous goitres, and these
monstrous tumours hang down on their bosoms, so that one
hardly knows whether they have three breasts, or three goi-
tres. The use of opium seems more common in Lnang-
Praban than in Lower Laos. The Chinese no longer come
there, but they have for long sent numerous caravans. These,
like a wave charged with ooze, which leaves its abomination
on the bank as it retires, have inoculated the population with
part of their vices. These indefatigable traders, who for-
merly came down from Tunan to the number of two or three
bundred a year, liave given up a journey, which has become
too dangerous since the revolt of the Mussulmans from the
smperor of China. They are replaced by Burman pedlars, who
supply the place with cotton and woollen goods, and with
1 small number of other Em-opean articles sought after
by the natives. These Burmese may be recognised by their
Features, which are more open and more intelligent than those
jf the Laotians, and by a turban smartly put on on one side
Df the head. They have their thighs, then* stomach, and
jften their chests, covered with tattooing, generally blue, but
sometimes red — fantastic arabesques, which destroy the col-
our of the skin, and, at a little way ofi", have almost the look
)f swaddling-bands.

At Luang-Praban the Laotians have adopted the same
iustom, whence, probably, has come the name of . Black-bel-
ied Laos, which is given them by ancient geographers. One
Qust go to the market to judge the variety of costumes and
ypes. At a glance at this inixed population, the least skilful
f anthropologists would see beforehand the inextricable con-
usion of races and languages, which he will meet at a short
iistance from Luang-Praban. Numbers of savages, who have
ubmitted to the king, come every morning to the town to

156 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

sell or buy. They live in the mountains. Their dress is
extremely simple ; so much so in some cases, that it could
hardly be lessened. Then- haii', plaited over the head, and
cut horizontally along the forehead, sticks out freely behind,
and is sometimes done up into a chignon. Others, more
elegant, wear a blue vest set off with white edging. All
have the lobe of the ear perforated by a hole that measures,
sometimes, a centimetre across, in which they put an orna-
ment of.wood or metal; the women using a great bodkin of
silrer, with the head gilt, in this way.

The costume of these good' ladies consists of a vest and
jupon.of blue cotton check, edged with white; and they have
a piece of some cloth on their head, of the same colom-, en-
circHng and mingling with their black hair. Their little
scared. figm-es contrast agreeably with the masculine fea-
tures of many of the Laotian women, who display a de-
formed thi-oat without shame. Their savage sisters have
more modesty or more of the coquette. It is only through
their. tight-fitting vest the eye can follow over their. bosoms
the often graceful outlines of theiiv hidden charms. The
Laotians, who are veiy proud of. their half-civilisation, look
on the savages as much inferior, to themselves, and, indeed,
as almost contemptible. Every group of three miserable huts
of theirs has a name of. its. own, known in the neighbour-
hood; but the most important village of the people, whomay
be regarded as the original owners of the country, is called
by the. common and scomftJ name of Ban-Kas — a ki-aal of
savages. The stranger refuses to accept this estimate formed
by a perverted pride. The savages are hard workers, and
the finest fields of rice and noblest herds of cattle I have
seen have been in their parts of the country. They are all
shy at first, but they are easily brought to be familiar. How
often have 1, in my walks, had to ask these children of the
woods for shelter from the sun, or water to quench my thirst,
or a mat on which to forget my fatigue ! They did not un-
derstand my words, but divined, with the quick instinct of
hospitahty, the wants which brought me among them, and
hastened to satisfy them. I have enjoyed positive feasts in
these -huts,, where the bamboo, worked in a hundred ways,
spread all the luxury before me it could display; and I cannot i

THE ABORIGINES. 157

ecall without gratitude the recollection of.a collation made
p of sticky rice, smoked iguana legs, and pepper, which a
avage, some sixty years of age, whom I met in the forest, to
rhom my long beard caused astonishment rather than fear,
iffered me one day. This good old man spoke a harsh and
onorous language, in which the r abounded, in contrast with
he Laotian, in which that letter seems little used. He took
.s much pleasm-e in showing me his cabin, and his fields of
Qaize and rice, as any civilised proprietor could. The plains
Laving become rare, it was necessary to grow rice on the
lills, and, by the force of circumstances, the management of
he rice-plantations of the forest have been brought to high
)erfection. The agriculturists of the neighbom-hood of Lu-
mg-Praban avail themselves of the numerous springs which
jscape from the rocks, to m-igate their groxinds, and even
leem, where necessary, to dig little canals, for leading the
vater where it is required^a thing unheard of in Lower
liaos. The cultivated spots on the slopes of the mountains
ire scattered Avith a freedom possible to a people not very
lumerous, and enjoying an immense extent of unoccupied
and. They burn the trees, and cut away the stumps, as far
IS they can, without pulling out the roots, and plant the rice
3n the round tops of the knolls, or on the steep slopes, with-
)ut an attempt at levelling the sm'face. Hence, after a short
:ime, the roots spring again, and invade the rice-grounds. If
bhey were to dig the ground deep, they would avoid this in-
3onvenience; but, then, the diluvian rains would carry off all
bhe soil, no longer kept in its place by the roots, into the
ealleys, sweeping it away in its rush. In the month of May,
during our stay at Luang-Praban, the fields were only pre-
pared for planting, and looked, fi-om a distance, like scars
on the hill -sides, or like stains on the green robe Avhich
covered them. The obstacles which nature offers to the toil
of man have always the result of developing his energy, and
activity. Though the labourer has to water the ground with
bis sweat to make it fertile, he not only secures a living by
doing so, but has, without his knowing it, and, as it were, into
the bargain, acquired manly qualities, which make it impos-
sible for him to remain long a slave. .Agriculture exacts
more labour in the moimtains of Luang-Praban than in the

158 TEA^'ELS IN INDO-CHINA.

fertile plains of Lo-\ver Laos ; and the people, though thej
have not reached that insolent rudeness we soon after found
among the tributaries of Burmah, have no longer the stolid
features and the indolent ways of the people of Ubone and
Bassac.

In the capital a wonderful animation prevailed every
morning in the marliet. I liked to go through the close
crowd, to look at the singular eatables piled on the tables :
but especially to watch the buyers and sellers. On the twc
sides of the street, imder the shelter of the low houses, the
sellers, of both sexes, crouched on mats or on large leaves
of banana, waited for their customers without importuning
with wearisome invitations, as is the case in our provincial
markets in Europe. The housewives go about in peace;
there are no cries or disputes ; the whole goes on gi-avely,
almost in silence. Everything may be found that is needed
for living — that is, for Laotian living — ^in its modest sense.
I have not to do here with the names of the different de-
licacies which tempt the curiosity of the passers-by, oi
solicit their appetites; I omit, purposely, the ragouts, all
ready; the savomy drinks, consumed on the spot; for a
smell rises from one and all that won't let me think ol
stopping. The Burmese offer the public English stuffs,
cotton checks, printed calicoes, woollen fabrics, buttons, and
needles ; the inhabitants of the kingdom of Xieng-Mai bring
lacker boxes, gargoulettes, and parasols; and natives sell fish,
buffalo-meat and pork — often that of beasts which have died
of disease — rice, salt, Chinese nettles, silk, and cotton. There
are, besides, tobacco-shops, where you find cigarettes and
pipes of different models. All the world smokes, men,
women, and children. The children, iadeed, while still at
the breast, draw puffs of smoke through the pipe-shanks,
mixing it ia some sort in their mouth with their rciothei-'s
milk. However, these appearances of a commercial life
^ must not be allowed to deceive one, and the traveller,
anxious to see such, must guard agaiast first impressions.
There is hardly anything at Luang-Praban but a retail
trade, and this has itself already suffered considerably from
the revolt of Yunan, which has made intercourse with the
Celestial Empire, impossible.

MONEY IN LAOS. 159

It will, perhaps, be remembered tbat at Stmig-Treng,
■ first station in Laos, we received from the natives, in
;hange for the Siamese tikal, so many little bars of iron,
•ying commonly from seven to ten to a tikal. On leaving
3sac the bar of iron was exchanged for one of copper,
liter and more convenient ; at Phon-Pissai, copper money
;irely disappeared. We found the only money cm-rent at
ang-Praban was in the shape of little white shells, strung
;ether like the sapecks of Cochin-China. Twenty-five of
!se strings are worth a tikal. This piece of silver, which
gned alone with its subdivisions in all Lower Laos, finds
■edoubtable rival in the market at Luang-Praban, in the
gUsh rapee, which has a fictitious value equal to that of
jkal, although the latter shows an intrinsic difference in
favour of about 93c. This anomaly comes, no doubt, fr'om
> frequent and direct intercourse of the Bm-man traders
th this country, and would probably cease with the fii'st
periment of speculation in exchange. As to the Mexican
liars, of which we had brought a number, it was very
ficult to know how to value them. The exchanges in the
rket — for there are exchange offices — ^persisted in refusing
jm, and we had to find out a good-natured person, who
shed them as curiosities, before we could get rid of them,
veral great people bought them to hang from their chil-
m's necks, who then found themselves dressed in this
see of money, and a kind of silver heart hung by a Mitring
d round their loins, and serving the same end to modesty
the vine-leaves do in Europe. A tax-galherer passes
■ough at the close of the market, and levies so many shells
m each booth as the king's right ; for in Laos there is no
Ference between the king, the state, the town, and public
i private property. Yet, however great the power of the
rereign may be, established usages impose bounds on it,
d it meets a kind of control in the assembly of the chief
ictionaries who form the royal council — known by the
bive name of SSna. These functionaries being nominated
the king, and being very proud of the honotn, can exer-
e only a delusive check; but after having passed through
iountry which the sun might make so rich, and despotism
3 made so poor, one clings to these shadows of guardian in-

1(50 TRA-\^LS IN INDO-CHINA.

stitutions, and offers ardent prayers that the phantoms may
take a body, and drag the land at last from the rut in which
it will otherwise perish. The second king, who, at Luaug-
Praban, as at Bangkok, sits below the fii-st, has only a title,
with no. real power. It was he who had gone to be present
at the funeral ceremonies of the second king of Siam. The
first king did not deign to trouble himself about the cere-
mony, at which all the governors of the Siamese provincee
had received orders to be present, to add to the splendour,
He contents himself with sending his annual tribute, and
will not allow the interference of the agents of Bangkok ir
the affau-s of his kingdom in any way. His predecessors had
been in the habit of sending gifts to the So)i of Heaven as
well; but he profited by the revolt of Yunan to put an
end to the practice, which was simply a voluntary homage,
though it had, no doubt, at one time been a tribute. The
ambassadors who go fi-om Luang-Praban to Pekin take nol
less than three years to make the whole journey.

There is reason to believe that this vassalage of the king
to Bangkok would very soon change to total independence,
if his own interest did not prompt him to keep on good terms
with a sovereign who, if necessary, might be a powei-fdl ally,
The boundaries of the kingdom of Luang-Praban are, on the
.south, the district of Sien-Kan ; on the west, the importani
Siamese province ofMuong-Nan; from west to north-east,
a nuifiber of pi-incipalities tributary to Bm-mah or to China,
now one, now the other ; on the north-east, Yunan ; and from
north-east to^ south-east. Tonkin.

On the side of Tonkin, there have been fi-equent dis-
putes respecting the fi'ontiers between the emperor of Annam
and the king of Luang-Praban. Some Siamese soldiers
were still in the capital, left behind from the small army
which had come, a few years before, to aid the king to take
possession of the countries bounded by Tonkin, Avhich were
laid claim to by the Annamites. From these ambitious ri-
valries, which spring from near neighbourhood, there is con-
stant Jiostihty between the Laotians and the Tonkinese.
The route of commerce, which formerly imited the two peo-
ples, is nowadays wholly deserted by traders, and travellec
only by- soldiers. On both sides, they slaughter each othei

POLICY OF FRANCE.

irith equal remorselessness, so that a barrier of heads cut oflf
ises each day higher between these unhappy populations,
ondemned to the scourge of unceasing war. Victory in
he last campaign remained with the long of Luang-Praban ;
lut it may desert his flag, and the two sides may know,
a turn, the barbarous joys of triumph, and the horrors of
lefeat ; and thus hatred will only become more intense, and
econciliation more impossible. It is, therefore, to be hoped
hat some new influence may bring a remedy for a state of
hings that remains without result, imposing peace on the
)rinces, and healing the wounds of the peoples. If I were
,sked whence this help could come, I would repeat what I
lave already said of Cambodgia in the beginning of this
)ook. The part which France has played, \mder the guid-
mce of an intelligent and far-seeing governor, in the ex-
remity of the valley of the Mekong, is not without some
malogy to what seems reserved, at the twentieth degree of
lorth latitude, to the successors of Admiral de La Grandifere.
n the delta of the great river we cleverly interposed between
he Siamese and the Annamites, under cover of the Cam-
rodgians ; and they are the same enemies we find face to face
IS far up as Tonkin. The kingdom of Luang-Praban has, no
loubt, more life than that of Cambodgia, but it is not less
sxcited and sustained by the Siamese in all its enterprises
tgainst the empire of Annam — that old enemy of the court
)f Bangkok. I know well that we are not established at
Conkin as we are in Lower Cochin-China ; I am, moreover,
ar from being convinced that it would be a real advantage
us to take immediate possession of the direct government
)f this country; but it is necessary that the emperor TuDuc
ihould consent to tolerate om- presence in it, to protect at-
lempts at any agricultural, industrial, or commercial estab-
ishments which may be made by om- coijipatriots. When
he voice of the governor of Cochin-China plays a greater
)art in the councUs of Hue, it will not be long before it makes
tself heard also at Luang-Praban. If, as there is some rea-
;on to believe, there are some unsubdued tribes of savages,
vho have revolted from vassalage, and are exasperated by
lideous outi-ages, their misfortimes perpetuating their bar-
jarism — ^in the region occupied by those of their race who

M

.Z TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

have submitted to one or other of the neighbouring nations,
they will never be an insurmountable obstacle to the revival
of intercom'se. When these men are no longer tracked like
wild beasts, and sold in the markets, they will at once cease
to be ferocious.

The port of Bangkok may be considered the one outlet,
at this time, of the commerce of these countries. This com-
merce, as we have seen, is yet in its infancy, vegetating in
the thick political atmosphere which surrounds it ; but it will
grow under a new regime, which will guarantee liberty and
security — the two conditions everywhere essential to the
development of public wealth. The town of Luang-Pi-aban
is not more than seventy leagues from the gulf of Tonkin ;
and thus it is rather on that side than to the capital of the
kingdom of Siam, which is still farther off, that the rude
labourers of these mountains seem designed by nature to
export their produce, and to receive the imports which in-
dustrial Em'ope could send them. We shall not have long
to wait for more full enlightenment on this question, and
those connected with it. A short time after the retm'n of
the expedition commanded by M. de Lagr^e, two energetic
and enterprising officers — MM. d'Ai-feuille and Reynard —
reascended the Mekong to Luang-Praban, to cross from that
town by land to the town of Hu6, and thus pass obhquely
through the Indo-Chinese peninsula. If this perilous journey
be successful, it cannot fail to be richer in results, as regards
our Annamite colony, than even the expedition in which I
was called to take a part, which had a more general aim.^ I
shall soon have to cross and describe the (Chinese province
of Yunan, by which the great empire touches Tonkin. I
shall sail on the river, which falls into the sea near the capi-
tal of the latter kingdom, and will then be led, in the com-se
of my narrative, to state more fully the end which France
should seek to attain in that country; but before reaching
the fail- plain of Yuen-kiang, where the Sonkoi flows with
br immin g banks, what mountains must we yet pass, what
struggles must we have with the ill-will of the natives, to
what miseriee must we submit, what sufferings endure !

^ Less fortunate than we, these, two explorers were forced to return to
Saigon after some months.

RUMOURS OF DIFFICULTY. 163

The rainy season had begun ; and at that time, when even
he Laotians almost entirely give up travelling, fate required
hat -we shotdd set off to penetrate a region which the rude-
less of natm-e, and that of man, make specially inhospitable.
Che rebels of Cambodgia, who, shox-tly after our starting, had
)ursued, but failed to overtake, us,.had, without knowing it,
)repared trials for us, tbe sight of which would, without
loubt, have glutted their hatred and vengeance. By hin-
lering the post, wMch had started from Saigon to catch
IS, from coming by the direct way of the river, they had
breed M. de Lagree to send after it, and to wait for it. The
tne weather had passed away in these wretched delays, and
>ur task, no less than our funds, so much reduced already,
aade the delay most hurtful.

Our regular life, and the discipline of the men of our
sscort-, had excited the esteem of the king of Luang-Praban,
md conciliated his good-will. Yet he did not hide the feei-
ng, but owned it openly to M. de Lagi-ee, that though he
iked to have us with him, our farther progress was very dis-
Lgreeable. According to information that reached him, the
gravity of which he purposely exaggerated, rivers of blood
lowed on his frontiers. He said he was at war with his
leighbom-s, little independent sovereigns, who were tearing
>ach other in pieces. As commonly happens in times of
)olitical confasion, brigandage had been organised on a gi-eat
icale, and bands of savages, of Chinese, of Laotians, and of
Burmese, plimdered all travellers alike impartially who were
ash enough to pass through these parts. In such a state
)f affairs, the king hesitated to provide us with means of
Tansport, in some measure to escape from the responsibility
)f an affair, which he thought would turn out very badly for
is ; but much more from fear of seeing his horses, boats, men,
md, especially, his elephants, fall into the hands of his ene-
nies. On the other hand, we learned from reports gathered
)y our interpreter, that the emperor of China had begged the
ting of Luang-Praban not to let any Europeans pass, who
night be trying to reach China by the valley of the Mekong.
This appeared quite in keeping witk the well-known habits
)f Chinese diplomacy. If we succeeded in setting foot on
Ilhinese territoiy, the government would become responsible

164 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

for the conduct of its functionaries towards the foreign man-
darine, who came furnished with regular passports issued by
itself. It would, therefore, have been a clever stroke, if not
very honourable, to get a prince long tributary to the great
empire, and still under the shadow of its venerable prestige,
to consent to detain us in his state. It was possible that the
king, playing a double game, would dissimulate as to the
real motives for opposing oiu- starting ; but it was also no
less possible that his fears had a very serious foundation.
Our hut, open to all comers, was the rendezvous of the quid-
nuncs and the idlers ; the mandarins and the bonzes were a
great deal Avith om- chief, and all agreed in drawing a terri-
ble picture of the neighbouring countries. We had to appear
very resolved, while all the time trjong to find out the truth
amidst the haze of exaggeration — an ungrateful task, which
left us commonly in cruel perplexity.

M. de Lagrde devoted himself to it with an admirable
perseverance. His days were entirely filled with minute
interrogatories, in which he showed, at once, the patience
of a savant pm^suing a difficult problem, and the sagacity
of an examining magistrate. Up to Luang -Praban his
laborious inquiries had had for their end, almost exclusively,
the collection of all kinds of information likely to help our
labours, but from that point they bore directly on the very
success of our enterprise. Henceforth he sought not only
to obtain precise facts as to tlie geographical position of
places we were not able to visit, or to recover some half-for-
gotten recollections fi-om the treacherous memory of old men
and bonzes ; but rather to learn, if it would be possible for
us to get to China, or whether we should need to go back.
Dreading the enthusiasm, which leaves the resources of the
mind unmanned and dissipated when it passes ofi", M. de La-
gtie was readier to communicate his fears and doubts, than
his hopes, to us. He retained, besides, from his militaiy habits,
the liking for command, and formed his resolutions as the re-
sult of solitary thought; so that if his companions sometimes
had reason to regret his silence at critical moments, it no less
becomes them to acknowledge that all the honom- of success
is due to him alone, since he would have had to bear all the
weight of failure.

LEAVING LUANG-PRABAN. 165

As it was impossible to trust to the information he col-
lected at Luang-Praban, M. de Lagree determined to go on
to the scene of the events itself. The difficulties in om- way
which had been intimated determined us to reduce our bag-
gage as much as possible. We intrusted some arms, some
ammunition, and a quantity of clothing, to the keeping of the
king. This step secured us resources, in case we were forced
to beat a retreat, and leave our stores behind us, and at the
same time lightened our little column ; Avhich was a great
matter in a country where the means of transport were so
limited and expensive. We resolved to distribute among
the crowd whatever seemed not absolutely indispensable ;
and no sooner was this known than we were fairly invaded.
The greatest personages contended for the leavings of om-
wardrobe; even the women became bold, and offered any-
thing for a white chemise ; and nothing remained for us, in
the end, but to throw our handkerchiefs to the best-looking.
They made the most sinister predictions, and pressed us to
come back again at the first attempt of the brigands to cut
our throats, for it was certain that the attempt would be
made. These sympathetic manifestations were sincere, for
we had become popular by the simple process of paying our
debts in the market, showing ourselves in the pagodas, and
respecting the laws, the faith, and the pi'ejudices of the
people. This is the whole secret of winning over savages,
and European travellers could not keep it too well in mind.
They may feel sadness and pity in coming in contact with
infant races, but should never show contempt. It rests vrith
them to open and make easy the way for those who follow
them, or to multiply their difficulties a hundi-edfold. Let them,
then, reject the suggestions of a pride, which their bearing
does not always justify.

CHAPTER V.

ENTRY INTO THE BUEMAN TERRITORY. BAD FEEUNG OF THE
AUTHORITIES. THE RAINY SEASON. MUONG-LINE. SIEN-TONG.
irUONG YOU AND SIEN-HONG. FRONTIER OF CHINA.

The town of Luang-Praban had been to us what an oasis is
to a caravan wearied by a long inarch. We had stayed there
a month, in the midst of comparative abundance. To pass
the night under one roof, and to sit twice a day at the same
table, were pleasures which we had enjoyed there for the
first time since leaving Bassac. A wandering life is contrary
to man's nature, which attaches itself to places by a thousand
invisible ties, as the tree binds itself to the soil by its roots.
Even the races who live under tents pitched each night, to
be struck in the morning, make a native cormtry of the desert,
whose every spring they know, or of the forest, every old
tree of which they reverence. To march on steadily, tolinow
that you will never see the ground you are treading again,
or the men with whom you exchange friendly words, is to
tm"n Wandering Jew, and causes an insm-mountable sadness,
making you think, without the power of helping it, of that
immortal type of the unfortunate and accursed. We had, it
is true, the hope of aiding Science, and adding by oui- re-
searches to the facts with which she works, and this ambi-
tion acted on us, without doubt, like that which m-ged the
knight from his castle to redress wrongs, or to follow the
track of amorous dreams ; but we had in om* hearts, beyond
all things else, an image bright as the star of the Kings — the
image of France, to which each step was now, henceforth, to
bring us nearer. The idea of dying far from her, and oflj-ing
in a lonely grave — a sad thought, which thrust itself on me at

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COLOSSAL STATUE OF BOUDUHA. 167

the beginning of the jom-ney — had ceased to cross my mind;
the past guaranteed the future. We were, besides, leaving
the boundaries of Laos, of evil name, and that calumniated
Minotaur had devom-ed nobody. The objections of the Idng
3f Luang-Praban to our departure might, without doubt, have
their source in some political motive ; but the sympathetic
manifestations of the people were so pui-e, and so free fi-om
ill suspicion of that sort, that it was impossible for the. most
iisti-ustfol to see anything in them but the signs of an anx-
ety rising from sincere interest in us. We were moved with
;t, without being intimidated; and on the 25th May 1867
svent on board our canoes, full of ardour and confidence, and
ilmost glad at the sacrifices which reduced the personal bag-
gage of each of us to one package. The Commandant de
Lagr6e, alone, was engrossed by his reflections, seeing a
5ombre cloud on the horizon, and feeling that he was the
lEdipus whose words would decide the fate of all his com-
sanionB.

The Mekong, which slackens its speed, and spreads itself
Dut before Luang-Praban in a bed free from any obstructions,
resumes its headlong course and its troubled look not far
Tom the town. A colossal statue of Bouddha, seated at the
nouth of a cavern, seems to gaze impassively at the gliding
ivaves, the image of the life whose constant changes sad-
iened the great teacher, and di-ove him to place eternal
lappiness in eternal stability. The cavern is transformed
nto a pagoda; but the bonzes have had the bad taste to
scrape the stalactites w^iich adorn the arch and the walls.
farther on, in the bosom of a vast perpendicular rock, which
alunges into the water, a second grotto is also consecrated
;o worship. It is adorned by a notched balcony, reached by
I brick staircase, the lower steps of which are washed by the
vater. Opposite this picturesque temple, the gate of which
ooks, at a distance, like a rent in the rock, the Mekong re-
;eives a considerable affluent on its left bank. The Nam-
3ou, before losing itself in the great river, runs through a
T&Bt verdant prairie, bounded by a vertical wall of at least
;hree hundred metres, which seems as if it had been cut out.
To show tbe height of an extraordinary rise of the waters,
;he inhabitants had drawn a red line, which was nineteen

1(58 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CmXA.

metres over our heads. We looked at this river, which seems
to come frora the north-east, with some curiosity ; for M. de
Lagree had resolved to get into China by this stream, if he
did not succeed in doing so by the Jlekong.

We were told that there was a mountain, which vomited
fire, to use the words of the natives, at a short distance from
the village of Tanoun. We had already met extinct vol-
canoes, notably in the basin of the Se-Hon, on our way to
Attopee ; but it was the first time that we had been told of
a crater in activity, and it was a fact of too much importance
not to take steps to examine its correctness. While the other
members of the commission continued their voyage in the
canoes, Dr. Joubert and I set off on foot, with guides, and
struck towards the south-east. After a walk of about thirty
kilometres, along the side of mountains or through the gorges
of mountain streams, we saw, from the top ofPou-Din-Deng
(the Mountain of Red Earth), a large village surrounded by
vast rice-grounds, and standing in the middle of an immense
plain, like the basin of an ancient lake. It is the village of
Muong-Luoc. We were near the source of one of the arms,
into which the Meinam separates at its rise. The Mekong,
forming a new bend to the east above Luang-Praban, comes
very close to this river, from which it is only about eight
leagues oS; but there is no communication between them.
It has been thought that, farther down, these two streams,
disappearing, in some sense, amidst the inundation which
covered the country, mingled their waters during the rainy
season. It is a very natural exaggeration in the lower parts
of their course ; but at the height where we w-ere in this
mountainous region, the two basins, clearly defined, remain
absolutely distinct. The opinion expressed by Martini, and
more recently reproduced by Vincendon Desmoulin, that the
two rivers unite in Laos, must be finally abandoned. ■

The head man of Muong-Luoc showed himself very
friendly and hearty, and had gathered to his house all the
high society of Muong, to see two curious creatures with
long beards and pale faces. As to himself, he already knew
some specimens of this singular race ; for he had been to
Bangkok, where he had met European women, with their
hair tied up behind the head, and long, standing-out dresses

VOLCANIC DISTRICT. 169

the very recollection of which made him, even yet, almost
die with laughter. He had among his concubines a young
savage of a very light colom-, with a burning black eye,
which would have seemed in its right place in an Andalu-
sian posada rather than in a Laotian hiit. The conversa-
tion was very animated, though there was no interpreter,
and was filled with blunders and all kinds of cock-and-bull
nonsense. Tigers being very numerous in this region, the
governor wanted to give us an escort, often men, to take lis
to the volcano, and pushed his prudence so far as to cause
our hut, which stood a little out of the village, to be sm-
rounded, through the night, by an army of watchmen, who
smoked and chatted till morning, and chased away sleep
much more surely than the fear of the most terrible flesh-
eater could have done.

We sought in vain for the streams of lava, the canopy of
smoke, and all the features of desolation, which the word
volcano raises in the mind. We saw nothing but a depres-
sion of the ground on the top of a low wooded hill. The
earth is chapped, and has given way, ae if the fire were con-
suming it within. Vapours rose in the air through numerous
crevices, exhaling a smell of sulphur and of pit-coal. At
some places yellow flakes of sulphui-, ci-ystallised, covered the
soil. By day no flames could be seen; but I can suppose
that they appear at night, as happens at Vesuvius, which,
even when not in eruption, shows its flaming summit in the
splendour of the Neapolitan nights. The subterranean fire
spreads little by little, and burns the roots of the great trees,
whose skeletons mark its progress. The two hills where
these solfaterras are foimd are near each other, and are called
Pou-fai-gnai and Pou-fai-noi — the Great and Little Fire
Mountain.

Having noticed a great many elephants ia the plain of
Muong-Luoc, we asked the governor for the loan of two, to
take us back to the Mekong ; but the Laotian very kindly
wished to keep us by him, and persisted in not acknowledg-
ing our reasons for hastening our return. Putting any value
on time is an infii-mity these people cannot understand. ' I
hardly like to give you elephants,' said he, joking ; ' they go
so slowly that they wiU weary you, and you will leave them

170 TRAVELS IN INDOCHINA.

behind, and run like hares. Is there something in your legs
that makes you able to do it V He ended, however, by ac-
ceding to our wish ; and seated on the backs of our huge
beasts, our heads brushing through leaves of trees dripping
with rain, we took eleven hom-s, by paths in which two men
could not walk abreast, to cross the chain of mountains which
separates the infant Meiuam from the Mekong, already a
grand and powerful stream.

At Tauoun we took to the canoes again, to rejoin the
expedition. The inhabitants of the village of Pacgnioi, where
we had to pass the night, smTOunded us in then curiosity,
and overwhelmed us with questions about the ' mountains of
fire.' They are three days off, and are thus a perfect mystery,
for no one has taken the trouble to visit them. The kind of
am-eola which the imagiaary flames of the volcano set on
our brows, and the generosity with which we let the house-
wives cut the mother-o'-pearl buttons from our clothes, got
us an excellent reception ia the village. Though ihey had
a caravanserai for travellers, they allowed us to spread om-
mats in a wooden pagoda, a kind of public-house room closed
in, such as we had not occupied till then. In truth, the salas
where we commonly lodged, and even the huts built ex-
pressly for us, were always made of a trellis of bamboo, which
often intercepted the light of day, but hardly kept out either
the wind or the rain. A little gilt statue of Bouddha, up-
right and stiff like om- saints of the middle ages, shone in
the gloom ; and I slept that night, to dream of the wonderful
fortune of Siddartha, the young piince who, for having pre-
ferred the austere Hfe of an ascetic to the seductions of
power, attained the rank of Bouddha, and receives still, after
twenty-five centuries, the worship of a fom'th part of the
hmnan race.

M. de Lagi-ee had stopped at Sien-Khong, a large village,
from which war had driven away the inhabitants, who were
just beginning to come back, to gather behind a vast enclo-
sm-e of brick. It is a chief place of the district, depending
on Muong-Nan, and the last important centre of Laos, on the
right bank of the Mekong, where the authority of Siam is
still acknowledged. The kingdom of Xieng-Ma'i, a vassal of
Bangkok, almost touches the river by its province of Xieng-

THE ENGLISH IN BUR3UH. 171

Hai, but it possesses only one town, recently destroyed, on
the banks of the Mekong, Xieng-Sen, whose ruins, which have
no interest for travellers, are already buried in the rank vege-
tation.

We had reached the fi-ontier of Burmese Laos, as might
easily be seen in the scared looks of the Siamese ftinctionaries,
who trembled lest they should be carried off by their neigh-
bour, the Laotian king of Sien-Tong, the implacable enemy
of their master. The time had now come for our hiding om*
letters from Siam ; but we should have been able to show
passports from the Burmese government. When Admu'al de
La Grandi^re applied to the emperor of Burmah for these
papel's thi-ough the Catholic bishop, for France has no official
representative at Ava, the empire was passing thi'ough a
crisis, which ended in one of those revolutions ofthe palace so
common in these countries, and it had for the moment para-
lysed all the influence ofthe missionaries. Deprived of those
safe-conducts, which make the mandarins responsible for any
hurt that may befall strangers in then- respective districts, we
had everything to fear from the Laotians tributary to Burmah,
if the Bm-mese, along with their yoke, had succeeded in trans-
fen-ing to them their hatreds. Every one knows the result
of the strife between the East Lidia Company and the Bm-
mese sovereigns. That long war, the origin of which I shall
presently state, gave Tennaserim, Pegou, and the Aracan
country to England, thus taking fi-om the Burmese the pos-
session of the lower course of the Lrawady, and at the same
time shutting them out from all access to the Bay of Bengal
and the Indian Ocean.

Neighbom-s so tm-bulent and ambitious as the Burmese
could not be long in fui-nishing the English with one of those
complaints which serve too often as a pretext for a rupture,
and enable it to punish the most insignificant violation of
international law by the annexation of a territory. They
went farther, and by a series of deliberate provocations ren-
dered inevitable a war, in which they may be said to have
taken the initiative. Full of confidence in his army, and,
like all Orientals, of contempt for foreigners, who had given
groimd for suspecting their good faith ever since the war
which Alom-prah the Great waged against the Pegouans,

172 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA^

the son of that monarch bore ^vith impatience the sight o
the extension of the British empire iu India. Up to the clos^
of the eighteenth centuiy the king of Siam, whose dominion
extended to the peninsula of Malacca, had been the enemj
always beaten and always hated, against whom the Burmes
had vented their warlike passions and thirst of conquest
but after the cession of Tennaserim, Minder -Aghee-pral
turned his thoughts to the west, and endeavoured, in allianc
with the Mahrattas, to ruin the edifice raised on his frontier
by those Em-opeans, whom his victorious father had treatei
with as much insolence as cruelty. Lord Hastings, the:
governor-general of India,' shut his eyes on this complicity
the proofs of which thrust themselves on him ; and the em
peror of Bm-mah, emboldened by an act of pnidence which h
took for weakness, determined to place a claimant, hostile t
England, on the throne of Katchar, a principality borderinj
on Assam. This daiiag intervention took place in 1824; am
before the close of that year, it was punished by the occupa
tion of Tavoy, Mergui, Martaban, and Kangoon. The loss c
all his ports was not compensated by the defeat inflicted o:
the English at Tchittagong, by the general-ih-chief Bandooh
who was soon after recalled from the frontier, to defend th
very capital of his coimtry, and perished by the bm-sting c
a shell. The Bm-mese troops, utterly defeated at Silhet, dri
ven fi-om Assam and fi-om Aracan, were forced, at the clos
of the year 1825, in spite of then- courage, to demand a true
fi-om Su- Ai'chibald Campbell, who had almost reached Patv
nagah in his ascent of the Ii-awady. The convention signe
in January 1826, by the plenipotentiaries of the two coui
tries, was not ratified by the emperor of the Burmese, o
whose pride the conquerors wished to impose hard an
humiliating conditions, which were not finally accepte
till after two more battles, in which the superiority of Eur(
pean arms triumphed over the undisciplmed heroism of th
Burmese. The treaty of Yandabo laid the foundations of th
English power in Burmah, and it has since developed itsel
till the Burman empke is, to-day, surromided by a vast cird
of conquered territories, extending fi-om Moulmein, in tt
Gulf of Martaban, to Sodiva on the Brahmapoutra, at tt
pomt where that great river, leaving Thibet, bends sharpl

BURMAH. 173

to the west, and throws itself at a right angle into the Bay
of Bengal.

Patriotism has survived the conquest, and hatred has
become only the keener for its impotence. It is driven back
to the heart of the conquered, as their nationality itself has
been concentrated by the force of arms round the cradle of
its ancient greatness. Eealising, too late, that they were
unable, from their own resources, to expel the English, they
have tried to oppose them successfully by the help of Eu-
ropeans ; but the attempts have been vain, and none of them
have remained unavenged. France has had nothing to do
with them, though Frenchmen may have taken part in them.
We had a hope that the memory of D'Orgoni, the last and
most famous of those of our countrymen who put their intel-
ligence and courage at the disposal of the Burmese emperor,
would have aided our passage through the vassals of that
sovereign; but, on the other hand, was there not reason to
fear that princes distant more than a month's march from
Ava might be unable to see any difference between the
various Em-opean nationalities, and be ready to treat us as
enemies? We were reduced to conjectures on this point,
and did not even know the nature of the political rule im-
posed on the Laotian populations by the Burmese govern-
ment. The mandarin chief of the village of Sien - Kong,
where the most cruel uncertainty prolonged our stay, con-
sented, at last, not without difficulty, to conduct us to the
limits of his territory; but would the king of Sien-Kong, his
neighbour, let us go farther? M. de Lagree had sent him
magnificent presents, and a letter in the Oriental style, with
as many words, and as little in them as possible. If he were
absolute master, he would, probably, refuse to let us pass; but
if he were dependent on Ava, perhaps he would fear to com-
promise himself. But it would take forty days to get in-
stnactions from the capital, and we should be with him when
he received our letter. We had to supply the Avant of exact
information by guesses of this kind.

At a little distance from Sien-Kong the mountains retreat
from the river, which winds along through a magnificent
plain, in the centre of which the to-s\Ti ofXieng-Sen has
been built within the last fifty years. We were sailing in

174 TRA^'ELS IN INDO-CHINA.

the Avaters of tlie kingdom of Xieng-Mai, a tributary of Siam,
like that of Luang-Praban, but we avoided any landing. The
disputes to which the use of teak-wood, by the English, had
given rise, might have caused some ill-feeling in the authori-
ties towards Em-opeans, and M. de Lagree thought it inex-
pedient to expose himself to the risk. Besides, he had pro-
mised the king of Luang-Praban, who was on very friendly
terms with his neighbour of Xi6ng-Mai, that he Avould not
set foot on his ten-itory. The valuable tree, the durabil-
ity of the wood of which, according to M. Reinaud,^ was
already known and appreciated in the time of the Romans,
is found for the fu'st time, in any abundance, on the banks of
the river at Sien-Kong, our last station ; but it is stunted
there, and badly cared for by the inhabitants. In the plain
of Xieng-Sen, on the contrary, it formed magnificent forests
on both sides of the Mekong, Avhich here ends its second
bend to the west, turning now directly north. From the
enormous quantity of water which this great river already
pours along, we could see that the sources must still be very
distant. It looked very probable that, like the great rivers
of China and India, it took its rise somewhere in the table-
land of Thibet — that immense reservoir, which sends, so to
speak, the colossal tribute of its waters into three different
oceans. If it flowed out of a lake, as the savants of the coun-
try told us in Cambodgia, that lake must be beyond Yunan,
or, perhaps,' it contributed only an affluent of secondary im-
portance to the river. This last hypothesis, as we shall see
farther on, is correct. We amused ourselves with these con-
jectures, now, when we were about finally to abandon the
route of the Mekong, which had become impracticable, and
prepare for the painful marches and all the miseries of a
land-journey in the depth of the rainy season.

We installed ourselves in a caravanserai on the banks,
and sent back our canoes. It was burning our boats ; for to
reach even Muong-Line, the nearest of all the villages de-
pendent on Sien-Tong, means of transport were needed, and

1 Dr. Sprenger, who has lived long in India, having some years since
visited the palace of Chosroes at Ctesiphon, found that the wood-work
was of teak. (Belations poKtiqim et commercicdes de VEnvpire Ronmin, ave-j
I'Asie OrientaU, par M. Reinaud, de I'lnstitut, p. 171, note.)

A EOMANTIC JOURXET. 175

we (lid not yet know if it would be possible for us toprocui-e
them. "We did not even knoAV wliethev the mandarin of the
Muong-Line would not give his soldiers orders to expel us, as
soon as he heard of our an-ival in his district. M. de Lagi-ee
hastened to send him a message, demanding authority to
wait with him till hie superior, the Idng of Sien-Tong, had
answered om- letter. We were, in truth, very much in dan-
ger of dying of himger in om- bamboo hut, built between the
stream and the forest. Hunting was hardly any easier than
fishing, for the rain fell in ton-ents. At last, after two days'
anxious waiting, a strange noise was heard fi-om the woods,
and each of us pricked up his ears, and sought to pierce
the gloom of the trees. The first ox that emerged from the
path, with a double seat on its hump, was received with
transports of joy ; it was, to us, what the dove and his branch
of olive had been to Noah. The chief of Muong-Line had
sent us sixteen pack-oxen. We put our baggage on their
backs without a moment's delay, and set out in such a down-
fall of rain as raised the level of the river perceptibly in two
hours. Our cai'avan presented a picturesque sight in the
narrow path in the forest. The little humped oxen followed
each other, obeying their own whims much more than the
voice of their drivers. Subaltern mandarins escorted us, with
a long musket on their shoulders, then- heads covered with
broad-brimmed hats of banana fibre, ending in a point. Their-
bronze colom% their moustaches, and their determined air,
reminded us of Calabrian brigands. All went well so long
as the road, winding through the plain, led tis along the river,
under the great trees; but our difficulties began when we
reached a steep hill, which it was necessary to cross.

The rain had effaced all trace of path on the side of the
mountain, and the soil was so slippery, that we could only
advance by catching hold of the bare roots of the trees, the
creepers, and hanging branches. As for the oxen, they fell
at each step, rolling one over the other ; and, though they
made the greatest exertions, some of them, after continued
efforts, were obliged to give up the attempt, the men divid-
ing their burden amongst themselves. The remainder of the
way was in keeping with the commencement. After having
followed the ridge of the mountains, marching several hours

176 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

ia a toiTent of rain, in the midst of a eplendid vegetation of
palm-trees, sicas, and tree-ferns, we at last reached the bor-
ders of the river of Muong-Line, which we crossed at a foi-d,
the water reaching tip to our shoulders. Some huts, one of
which had been prepared for us, were presently seen in a
grassy plain, surrounded by mountains. It was four o'clock in
the afternoon; we had been walking, mth difficulty, since the
morning, under a veritable deluge, and the oxen which carried
our provision of rice were behind, so that we had to wait
wearily for them; and nearly all of us caught a touch of
fever.

Such Avas our first stage in Burman Laos. The houses
differed from those of Siamese Laos, by being raised
higher above the ground, and by the length of roof, which
descends in such a fashion as completely to hide the house.
The one we inhabited resembled a stack of straw on trestles.
Underneath, the pigs sleep at their ease, and the oxen find
a commodious shelter. These last wander amid the fat pas-
turages in large herds, but notwithstanding then* great abund-
ance, we could not succeed in procuring one. A more sub-
stantial food than boiled rice and consumptive fowls was,
however, necessary ; but M. de Lagree, finding his funds
much reduced already, thought, with reason, that it would
be imprudent to thi-ow away sixty francs — the relatively ex-
.orbitant price asked for an ox — at a time, on food. The
asking a price so much beyond us, for these precious animals,
is explained by the value of the services they render the
natives. The river ceasing to be of use, the transport by
land becomes rainous, even for short distances; but when the
jom-ney has to be somewhat long, and there are any risks to
run, as nearly always occur in these perpetually troubled re-
gions, the proprietors of oxen raise their prices stiU higher.
We were obliged to submit to them; for we were not author-
ised to demand, as in Siamese Laos, the cooperation of
the mandarins, Avho raise, or lower, the price of transport
according to their interests or their caprices.

The village of Muong-Line occupies the centre of a plain,
of many miles in cu-cumference, which the rain speedily con-
verts into an immense swamp. We missed the river; we
were accustomed to see it animate our encampments, and, ic

MUONG-LINE. 177

whose coui-se we often ascended in tliouglit, seeking to solve
the mystery of its source, and whose rapid Avaters, which,
before losing themselves in the sea, would bathe and fertilise
a land, now French, we often watched as they glided past.
Notwithstanding the small number of its inhabitants, the
village has a daily market. It was at Luang-Praban, for
the first time since leaving Cambodgia, that we came across
this periodical or permanent public sale of the necessaries of
life ; a notable institution, of which it is necessary to be de-
prived, in order to appreciate the value. The market of
Muong-Line was not of great importance. Vegetables and
fniit were sold in it, and some peaches, which, though small
and gi-een, we found delicious, when eaten Avith eyes shut
and hearts thinkiug of France. They also sold cotton stuffs
of all sorts, of EngKsh manufacture.

These last articles are intended expressly for the country,
Burman characters and designs being woven into the cloth.
The most important house in the market is that of the black-
smith, who is at the same time goldsmith, and manufacturer
of money. These three professions, exercised by the same
mechanic, very closely resemble each other in this country,
where coined money does not circulate. The tikal, and its
subdivisions, ceasing to have the current price, we were com-
pelled to have our Siamese silver melted in a crucible, which
gives it the form of a macaroon. For daily transactions of
small importance they cut off at hazard pieces of unequal
value, which are appraised, at a glance, by the interested
parties. They make use of scales in more serious trans-
actions ; for, in default of a imiform money, the standard of
value is fixed by weight in silver.

When one passes from Cambodgia to Siamese Laos, the
transition is scarcely perceptible, and this the rather, that, for
the men at least, the costume remains the same. Here it is
quite otherwise; the change is sudden, and the contrast
striking. The Siamese tuft of hair is replaced by a chignon,
which gathers the whole of the hah- on the top of the head,
a turban, of various colours, leaving only the tip of it visible.
The langouti also gives way to wide trousers, which reach
the ankle. Smoking, even by children, is still more general
amongst these tributaries of Bm-mah.

N

178 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHIXA.

The women, more sensitive to tlie cold, or more modest,
wear a tight vest, crossing over the chest, of blue or white
cotton, sometimes of silk, dyed in different and very rich
colours. Besides this, they wear a petticoat, in horizontal
stripes of blue, yellow, and red. Then- liead- dress is com-
posed of stuffs of all shades, rolled as a turban round the
hair, or arranged after the fashion of the Neapohtan peasants,
and kept in its place by silver pins, the large heads of which,
with bracelets of the same metal, constitute the principal
ornaments of a Siamese belle. To these details of costume
I would add a general remark on the language, which is
the clothing of thought. We are still in Laos, and they
always speak Laotian ; but this language is employed with
modifications, which affect, especially, the pronunciation of
the words and the construction of sentences. There are, as
yet, but a small number of new expressions. The shades of
difference, which do not appear to alter the foundation of
the language, upset the shght knowledge we have acquu-ed
by superficial study, but do not embarrass our interpreter,
who maintains long conversations in a new dialect, IL de
Lagree, since our starting, having forced him to carry them
on with the natives, in order to obtain from them useful iu-
formation. But it was no longer thus "vvith the savages, whose
number and importance increased at each of our stations till
om- entry into China. They speak a language absolutely
unintelHgible to him, and hve grouped in tribes amongst the
mountains, where their villages present a pecuHar appear-
ance. Like the Laotians, the greater number have adopted
Bouddhism, with a strong mixtm-e of superstition; but while
the former erect pagodas, the others Tiave no temples, and
practise no outward worship. They have not the timid air
of the other aborigiues scattered through the valley of the
Mekong ; they carry their heads high in the midst of the
Laos-Lus;^ and it is because they like it, and not because

2 Tlie kJiabitants of the nortliem jpart of Laos liave many difieren
names ; they are called indifferently Lus, Thai, or Shaus. In certair
parts of this vast region they give themselves other appellations, as \nl
be seen, for example, at Sien-Tong. By the side of these the savages ar(
grouped in tribes, which in the same way bear different names. Are thei
names of as litUe importance as those of the Laos-Lus, or can ethno

THE SAVAGES. 179

they are forced, that they live ou the hills. They appear to
consent to give up their land rather than yield to masters.
They are remarkable for thek distinct physical type, for the
comparative whiteness of their skin, and for their picturesque
costumes, of which I can vouch for the endless variety. I
shall content myself Avith noticing briefly the most striking.

At Muong-Line, and the next station, Ve received visits
from female savages, who wore on then- heads seniicu'cles
of straw, of different colours, intermixed with ornaments of
glass and silver, which, falling from the forehead, back, form
a long veil, such as used to be worn in France, the lower
end of it being kept in right shape by a huge comb covered
with cloth- They also wore ean-ings, of glass beads or
hollow eilver, which fall over the shoulders, and ornaments
of the same description decorated their neck and chest;
then- arms, also, were loaded with bracelets. They could not
make a movement, without the 'whole of these decoi-ations
producing a strange tinkling. Their short vests were of
a dark colour, as also their plaited petticoats, which only
reached the knee. Their calves, well developed by moun-
tain roads, were imprisoned in gaiters of dark blue cotton.
To complete the description of this costume, must be added
a small cloak of leaves over the shoulders, and a wooden
pipe in the mouth. The dress of the men of the same tribe
was more simple, Avith much less ornament. They w^ore a
turban, a vest, large trousers, and round the neck a simple
collar of silver. They have regular featvires, with large black
eyes and xaoustaches.

The exigences of a similar life, in the same district, and
under the same climate, have given rise to very similar
habits and customs among the Laotians, and the numerous
savage tribes mixed with them. One can draw no con-
clusions as to the diversity of races from the variety of
the costiunes, since, even in France, we see they vary so
much in the different departments. There remains, there-
fore, only the language. Men versed in the science, so
interesting and so new, of philological palaeontology, would

gi-apliy make use of tliem? It seems probable, though I camiot tate upon
me to give a positive opinion.

180 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

find, no doubt, a source of fi-uitful study, if not of satis-
factory conclusions, in the documents on this subject col-
lected by M. de Lagree, who, alone, could gather them, he
being the only one of us then able to communicate, through
the Cambodgian interpreter, -with the Burmese Laotians, and,
through them with the greater part of the savage tribes.
But such documents could not find place in a work of this
natm-e. I shall confine myself to a general observation,
which has already been made on the subject of Indo-China
as a whole, but which applies, in a special manner, to the
northern portion of that vast peninsula. The nearer one
approaches the gigantic mountains, which compose what
might be termed the backbone of the Asiatic continent, it
would seem that the ethnographical problem becomes more
complicated . and . insoluble.

From the gorges of the Himalayas, as though from the
sides of a great Tower of Babel, have issued multitudes of emi-
grants, speaking all languages, and following at hazard the
valleys of the rivers. If many tribes have descended even
to the shores of the sea, to form nations there, others, more
numerous still, unable to break away, have remained wander-
ers round their cradle in the west of China, and the north of
Tonkin, Laos, and Burmah. As far as we had reached, the
Laotians still formed an organised nationality — compact
and comparatively powerful. Though we had heard of the
yoke imposed on them by the Bm-mans, we had not, as yet,
seen any signs of it ; but they were soon to appear. We
had been some days at Muong-Line, inhaling the miasma
from the inundated rice-fields ; and the chief of the village,
a mandarin of an inferior order, had not yet paid a visit to
M. de Lagree. Fearing to compromise his responsibility, he
waited for the king of Sien-Tong to indicate his line of con-
duct. This reserve, the motives of which we easily discerned,
began to make us uneasy. At last he presented himself in
great pomp, dressed in striped yellow and black silk drawers,
like a salamander; a large white calico dressing-gown, reach-
ing below his knees, half hiding his thin calves, which were
tatooed all over; and a turban of green silk on his head.
He was old and infirm, his heavy prominent eyelids over-
shadowing his dull eyes. He brought a favourable reply from

LEAVE MUONG-LINE. 181

the king. The council of Sien-Toug had taken four days to
deUberate on our simple demand for a pass. The Burman
mandarin sent from Ava to "watch the king, as we have seen
some governors of provinces watched by the court of Bang-
kok, had, we were told, assisted at this council.

Thus we learnt that authority is divided in the Lao-
tian countries, tributary to Ava, between a native sovereign
and a Bm-man mandarin, and that these two authorities,
after long debates, had agreed to let us pass. At least,
this was the meaning we put on the obscure words of the
message, and the verbose details of the messenger. We
prepared to start at once ; but lost two hours in collecting
and loading the oxen, and meanwhile the rain had changed
a brook we had to cross into a torrent. It was necessaiy to
choose the moment when the stream became again fordable,
which was not till the following day. It was with limbs
bending under me, and as though intoxicated by two grains
of quinine, that I started with my companions. An officer
attacked with ulcers in his feet was carried in a hammock
by om- Annamites, for the Laotians had refused to charge
themselves with this bm-den.

Sickness of any kind inspires them with a superstitious
terror : as we approached the villages, the inhabitants com-
pelled us, by their cries and expressive gestures, to take the
hammock another road. Both oxen and men carried our
baggage, but these last measured the weight by their own
convenience, not by ours. The state of our funds, which
suffered sorely at every station, prevented us from hiring
more beasts or men. The natives would do nothing but
what they pleased, and were not afi-aid of our threats, for
our prestige had vanished. Any act of violence, however
justifiable, would not have been Avithout peril. The inhabit-
ants of this part of the country were more high-spu-ited, and
more to be feared, tlian the timid Laotians of the south, who
could be taxed and loaded at will. This independent self-
respect, which we were happy to meet with again, consoled
us a little, when we saw a porter, wishing to rest himself,
throw his load on the ground, at the risk of breaking it, and
receive our remonstrances with an insolent laugh.

On leaving Muong-Line, we had to traverse interminable

182 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CHIXA.

rice-fields, over which the plough had just loassed. It was a
sea of sticky mud, which, at each step, emitted fetid ema-
nations. In the paths through the forest, walking was
still more painful ; we sank up to our knees in moist clay.
Leeches, lying in wait on the leaves, rushed down on their
prey; and if we stopped to free one of our legs from these
famished parasites, the other was immediately attacked.

These annelids have such an acute sense of sight, smell,
or hearing, that at the slightest halt we each became the
centre of attraction to a black and rapacious crowd, which
crawled towards us over all obstacles. At the end of seven
horrid hours' march we reached the village of Paleo, covered
with mud, shivering, and worn out v?ith fatig-ue and hunger.
As it had suited the bearers of our breakfast to stop and
rest frequently on the journey, and take their own food, we
had to wait for them imtil the evening, devouring our anger;
an aliment not very substantial. We had hitherto been spoilt,
and some of us were sorry enough at the thought that our
^ mandarinism was no longer of any account.

The pagoda, where Ave encamped, was a great shed, the
straw roof of which, supported on posts, scarcely protected
us from the rain. We .were present at the offerings made,
each morning, by the women to the little statue of Boud-
dha. The bonzes came every evening, to take away what-
ever had been placed on the altar. These men live plenti-
fully on such casual offerings, and their flourishing condition
bears good testimony to the piety of the faithful. Besides
these regular offerings, several times a day devotees bring
flowers or more nourishing objects. They fetch a priest from
a neighbom'ing monastery, who lights some candles, and re-
cites prayers till they are burnt out, when he takes possession
of the delicacies. Our presence did not seem to annoy these
worshippers of the god, who came in crowds to sell us their
fowls, or rather to exchange them for pieces of red cotton.
The authorities were not over kind, and declared that their
village could not furnish us with the means of transporting
our baggage, greatly diminished as it had been. We were
therefore compelled to reduce it stiU more, by leaving some
indispensable objects, hoping to be able to replace them in
China. The last remains of our wardrobe helped our larder;

OUR MARCH. 183

Ave gave a pair of pantaloons for a duck, and — God forgive
ns such simony ! — we even exclianged, in the same way, the
medalhons and religious images which were destined for
the Christians of the missions, whom we had not, as yet, en-
countered. St. Antony of Padna went for a pumpkin, St.
Pancras for a basket 'of potatoes, and St. Gertrude for thi-ee
cucumbers.

At Paleo we were joined by a courier, who brought a let-
ter from the king^ of Sien-Tong to M. de Lagree. This letter,
of which our interpreter indifferently succeeded in decipher-
ing the characters and making out the sense, was taken, after
mature deliberation, to be a gi-acions iavitation to pass through
the city of Sien-Tong ; but M. de Lagree behoved it his duty
to decline the offer, which he considered as an advance in-
spired at once by politeness and curiosity; for we had already
met with too many troubles, to allow of our lengthening our
journey. This deplorable bltmder caused oiu- most cruel
embarrassments. The same reason which had retarded our
departure from Muong-Line detained us at Paleo. The rain,
falling with incredible persistence, kept a river we had to
ford at too liigh a level. Before qidtting the territory of
Sien-Tong, it was necessary to obtain, from the master to
the neighbouring state of Muong -You, the permission to
traverse his territory. From reports, which we afterwards
found to be false, we were led to believe in the independ-
ence of this prince, who is, in reality, subordinate to the khig
of Sien-Tong.

M.. de Lagree sent his iaterpreter iu advance, charging
Tn'm to announce our approaching arrival, in the first village
of this new kingdom, and to dispatch from thence to the
king a letter, accompanied by the customary presents. We
started shortly after, and soon penetrated the forest, where
the night overtook us. Each one made, for hinaself, a bed of
damp leaves, and went to sleep in the clothes he wore, re-
signed to endure the water which poured from the sky. We
protected our papers, astronomical instruments, the powder,
and the box containing the sulphate of quinine, as much as
we possibly could, by means of the hard skins which formed
part of the equipment of the oxen. The fires of our enca,mp-
ment went out, notwithstanding the attention of the natives,

184 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

wlio are always uneasy in the neiglibourlioocl of tigers.^ On
the following day, one of tliese animals did us the ser^-ice of
throwing doAvn, before our eyes, a stag of large size, which
was crossing the pathway at a bound. Two shots from car-
bines, fired in the air by our Amiamites, who marched in front,
frightened the terrible hunter, who abandoned his prey to us.
To fire in the air, instead of aiming from the shoulder at a
wild beast, is a manner of proceeding which, doubtless, ap-
pears more prudent than heroic ; but those who chanced to
find themselves nearest the tiger were Annamites, and, for
men in such circumstances, showed themselves, compara-
tively, com-ageous. Their brothers of Cochin- China, sur-
prised by one of these dangerous man-eaters, treat him like
a great mandarin: give him the very respectful title of
Ngrandfather, kneel, and beat the earth with their foreheads,
till they meet the fate of Red Riding Hood, whom her grand-
mother ate.

The forest ends at the border of immense rice-fields,
which extend as far as the Mekong. The ploughs, with
shares of copper shining like gold, easily open their furrows
in the mire, in which the buffaloes, harnessed to them, sink
up to their chests. It was the plain of Siam-Leap, a small
village, where our interpreter awaited us. He had had
time to speak well of us, and the population flocked to the
pagoda, where we lodged. The women brought us food, and
asked for bits of red cloth instead of money : but when the
piece is used up, our supplies wiU be, once more, hard to
get. The mandarin of the place, after long hesitation, de-
cided on paying a visit to M. de Lagree, who expressed his
desire to leave without waiting for the reply of the king of
Muong-You. The timid functionary hesitated, and finished
by declaring that he dared not decide in a matter so grave.
He came, however, on the evening of the 14th of July, to
acquaiat us, that in two days' time there w^ould be a great
' festival at the village, on the occasion of the full moon. The
pagoda which we occupied would be full of people, from sun-
- rise to sunset ; and he feared that the tumult would annoy
us, and proposed that we should remove to a group of
• houses on the borders of the Mekong. This would, he said,
be so much gained on the following stage . of our journey ;

FESTIVAL OP THE FULL MOOX. 185

and should a favourable reply arrive from Muong-You, we
should be immediately informed.

11. de Lagvee was on the point of accepting this skilfully
presented proposal, which would have been disastrous ; for
in the desert place, where the crafty mandarin wished to
confine us, we should have found no means of living. The
increasing exactions of the porters and ]proprietors of oxen
kept us at Siam-Leap. These last demanded three times
as much as had been asked of us since om- entry into Bur-
man Laos, and refused the hundi-ed francs that we offered
them for half a day's march. The time had gone by when
we could give what we pleased to bearers, too happy to' aid
philanthropical mandarins; we had now to submit to burden-
some conditions, and were obliged to make formal contracts
for hiring, in which we had to take precautions against the
bad faith of the natives, who were always ready to falsify
the weights, or to deceive as to their value. The Chinese
ingot, called t4, and the Burman ingot, also called td, do not
represent the same quantity of silver ; but both are in use ;
so that these rogues offer you one when they are your debt-
ors, and require the other when they are yom- creditors.
This merciless dealing was accounted for, however, in a
certain measure, by the season in which we travelled. I
have already said, that the greater number of the dealers
suspend then business when the rivers overflow, and the
roads are submerged ; but as we wished to proceed, a higher
price had to be paid for doing so. M. de Lagree then de-
cided on awaiting, in our pagoda of Siam-Leap, the reply from
Muong-You, and we employed all our philosophy to enable
us to support the full moon, and the festivals of which it was
the occasion.

Children dressed in yellow, and some old fi-equenters of
the sanctuary, to judge by the familiarity with which they
treated their god, undressed the little statue of Bouddha,
threw water over its head, sponged it with care, and then
put on its red shirt again. The cymbals, gongs, and great
drums woke us with a start, and the crowd invaded the shed,
in which we occupied the smallest possible space. They
lighted candles, and bm-nt old rags and long cotton wicks.
-The assistants made all sorts of gestures, put their hand to

18G TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

tlieii- forehead, and kissed the gToimd, and then -watered .it
■\vith the aid of a bottle, with which every one was supplied.
This did not prevent their chattering, laughing, and smok-
ing ; not the slightest respect or meditation, or any sign of
inner religion, appeared on any of their countenances, with
the exception of that of the old bonze, the chief of the
pagoda. He appeared to pray with faith. Besides the
regular services, the time that he did not employ in sing-
ing, and instructing the children confided to his care, "\^^as
devoted to his beads, which he told on and on with his
fingers. Assisted by his brethren, he recited prayers during
part of the day, and read to the inattentive faithful some
pages of the life of Bouddha. It was a legendary tissue of
marvels. The gifts, placed on a shelf at the foot of the statue
of the god, appeared to me to be of small value : a candle
perhaps, or a ball of rice ; but that which was offered to the
bonzes was more substantial. It was a feast as dehcate as
their pilgiim flock could contrive, in every form of culinary
skill. The next day, parents, who had need of their children
for the important operation of picking the rice, came to take
them away from the school ; lay dresses were laid before
Bouddha, and then five or six little boys were stripped of
their yellow robes, to our great satisfaction, for they made
so many shrill voices the less in the choh- that awoke us
each morning. The gravity of all these Ehakims, when they
see they are noticed as they mutter their prayers, is very
comical ; for it ceases when there is no one to admire their
fervour.

Notwithstanding the inconvenience of such lodgings, we
were happy to take shelter under the stubble roofs of the
pagodas, and to sleep on their floors of beaten earth. It is in
Laos, as in certain remote places in Europe, where travellers
find repose in the cloisters, and convents take the place of
hotels. Without wishing, by a misplaced comparison, to put
the religion, which has given us our moral grandeur, on a
level with that which has produced the abasement of the
Asiatic races, I may be permitted to note, in this monastic
hospitality, practised 500 yeai-s before the Chi-istian era, one
of the first effects of that law of charity which Botiddhism
taught, though without giving it its highest sanction; a

DIFFICULTIES. 187

law veiy imperfect, no doubt, but sufficing to open the
temples of Indo-Cbina to travellers, as it used to be ap-
pealed to, to open to tbem the cells of St. Bernard.

We received from Muong-You a favourable answer ; but
the festival being over, the chief of the village, though he had
no longer any motive for getting rid of us, showed us great
ill-will. Spending his days in smoking opium, and indifferent
to everything, he treated the intei-preter charged to arrange
for our departure very badly, for he was too inferior a person-
age for M. de Lagr^e to enter into direct communication with.
The days glided away, the rain fell in torrents, and this im-
pertinent fellow notified us that, the river having reached
already a height to which it had not risen, the preceding^
year, till two months later, all the roads had disappeared
tmder the waters, and our departure was therefore impos-
sible. He advised us, ironically, to wait till the twelfth
month, though we were then only in the eighth. Such a
prospect, as being blockaded for four months at Siam-Leap,
filled us with consternation. A petty mandarin, touched with
pity, and, perhaps, by the desire of making a good business
of it, told Tis of a road, that remained open, across the moun-
tains ; a fi-ightful road, it was true, but yet not impracticable.
' Three more days of rain,' he said to us, * and it will cease
to be available by the men with your baggage, for then-
animals will not be able to pass it.' He offered to arrange
our departure for the following day, and asked 300 francs for
our porters. It was an urgent case, hesitation was not pos-
sible, and M. de Lagree agreed. Dui-ing our stay at Siam-
Leap, sickness had seized on our companions, like vultures
on their prey. Leaving behind us, stretched on the mats of
the pagoda, two oflScers and three men of our escort, unable
to rise, we left with aching hearts, taking -with us then- bag-
gage and their arms. An unencumbered man can pass every-
where.

We followed our guides through a dense forest, for there
was no longer a trace of road; and they conducted us by the
side of the river Mekong, which I had not seen for more than
a month, though we had encamped very near it at Pal^o and
Siam-Leap. It flows between wooded hills, with a fearful
current, sending up a dull roar, and its tumultuous waters

188 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

have tlie colour of red copper. We penetrated, Avitli much
difficulty, through the forest; the Laotians opening a way-
through it with their knives when the brushwood was too
thick. Obliged to follow the undulations at the foot of the
hills, we descended into all the ravines, at the bottom of
which ran torrents, at times strong enough to throw us
down ; many of them, indeed, swollen by the river damming
back their waters, only fordable at their source, to reach
which we had to make om- way through interlacing creepers.

It always rained, and most of us were without shoes.
Om* feet were bruised by the stones, pierced by the thorns,
and bleeding fi-om the leeches ; the fever paled our cheeks,
and, most fearful symptom of all, our spirits began to sink.
Notwithstandiag the stifling closeness of the air, after some
hours walking, in such a state, the cold struck us in crossing-
torrents whose waters were ordinarily glacial. What, then,
was our surprise, on entering, for the hundredth time, into
one of these innumerable affluents of the Mekong, to find it
so hot as to be almost painful! We had discovered a sulphur
spring of 86° centigrade, and wished this corner of the forest
the fortune which the first explorers of Gaul or Germany
might have predicted for Bagnferes or Ems.

The leeches were a dreadful torment. Countless as the
dead leaves, on which they kept watch, they rushed from
the thickest of the wood, like vampires, and hung on, in
clusters, to the body, which they drained; squeezed them-
selves even between the toes, quitting their hold only when
glutted, and leaving a poisonous sting in the skin, to turn,
before long, to an ulcer. The natives advised us to fasten
to the end of a cane a plug of damp tobacco. It had a
magical ejffect. It sufficed to touch the leech, to enjoy, for a
moment, the agreeable spectacle of its agony; but this re-
medy required constant attention, and was soon abandoned.
Like men forced to remain seated in a nest of ants, we were
obhged to be patient, and let our blood flow till we halted
in the evening, when we each had to stanch his wounds.
When we were compelled to pass a night in the forest, we
avoided setting up our camp amidst the large shrubs, where
the leeches were still more numerous. On the more elevated
places we were less exposed to serve as pastm-e to these

sop-yoNG. 189

hideous worms, wliicli, like the ghosts of Slavonic countries,
come out from their tombs at midnight, to drink the blood
of their victims, -without awaking them. Sometimes, to
escape them, we stretched om- blankets on a narrow piece of
sand, a foot above the Mekong, where, before sleeping, we
had to place a sentry to watch the stream, that we might
not be carried away by any sudden rise of the water. But
there, if there were no leeches, the mosquitoes became mad-
dening ; and, above all, the impalpable gnats of the forest,
against which no mosquito-curtain can protect, and whose
bite is fii-e.

At last, we perceived the five miserable and dilapidated
houses, which composed the dismal village of Sop-Yong.
They were separated from us by the pretty river of Nam-
Yong, which we crossed at its entrance into the Mekong, by
means of a raft, made of three planks, badly tied together.
The natives use the river so little, that they have nearly
lost the art of making canoes.

According to custom, we took possession of the pagoda,
furnished with its small altar, but improvided with bonzes,
for they, no longer inspired with the spirit of their master,
hardly ever establish themselves among the poor. If they
still think life the supreme evil, they no longer despise its
pleasm-es. The women came none the less, bringing their
very modest offerings to the god. One of our Annamites —
a freethinker, like the rest of his race — ^placed his bed at the
foot of the statue of Bouddha, and conducted himself, in the
morning, in such a manner as to distract the pious souls
from their meditations. I was never weary of admiring the
tolerance of these excellent Bouddhists. We strove never
to wound them; we always respected, even in the most
urgent circumstances, the enclosure of their pagodas, and
never took the life of any animal within it. The demands
of the bonzes went no farther, and they readily consented
to eat flesh, themselves, in spite of the doctiine of metem-
psychosis.

The rain never ceased, and the river visibly increased : it
rose three metres dming our short stay at Sop-Yong. Every
moment a piece of the bank gave way with a dull sound,
like a subterranean explosion. Our sick companions, whom

11)0 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

we Lad left at Siam-Leap, rejoined us at last. Their lioUow
eyes and pale lips gave tliem the appearance of walking
corpses. Those of us who were still strong hastened to quit
the village of So^D-Yong, so as not to use up the small amount
of provisions it was able to furnish. Attracted by the hope
of good wages, even the women offered to carry the bag-
o-age ; and the caravan, smaller by half, followed first the
valley of the Nam-Yong, which becomes very rapid a hun-
di-ed metres from its mouth. We left the banks of this
stream, swollen by the rains, and entered a plain, which
might be called a vast savannah. Many ranges of mountains
rose one above the other around us ; some of them wooded
and dark, others burned and bare, like nothing so much as a
leper's skull. The parts of the vaUey not planted with rice,
formed, for a space of several kilometres, putrid marshes, in
which we sank to the waist. We were not far fi-om iluong-
Yong, where a Burman official resided ; and it behoved us
to present om-selves aU together, with all om- attendants, be-
fore this mandarin, whose feeling towards us was unknown.
It was, therefore, necessary to await at the village of Pass-
ang the arrival of those we had left behind us, amongst
whom was M. de Lagree himself. We then made as impos-
ing an entry into the chief town of the district, which was to
serve us as a prison for a month, as our bare feet and tat-
tered clothes would permit.

Muong-Yong is an insignificant village. Facing a covered
bridge, by which we arrived, lay a greensward, bordered by
magnificent banyan-trees, and terminating by the enclosure
of the pagoda. An earthern wall, and a ruined mon\iment on
a neighbouring hill, gave evidence tliat the place had been
inhabited for a long period. It appears, indeed, to have
been the eentre of a powerful tribe of aborigines, Tvhom
the Laotians superseded. Whilst the chief of the expedition
— an enthusiastic archasologist, and indefatigable walker,
notwithstanding the fever — went to explore the piles of
bricks concealed under the brushwood, we took quiet pos-
session of a large wooden house, disdaining the sala, open
to the Avind and the rain. W« had scarcely installed our-
selves, when two Burmans, armed with sabree, entered, and,
speaking to us with great animation and their hands on

■WE AHE DETAINED. 191

tlie hilts of tlieir weapons, summoued us, with expressive
gestures, to follow them immediately. They spoke in Bm-
man, and we did not understand a word of then- dis-
course ; but, as they seemed impertinent, we simply tm-ned
them out of doors. They were loud in then- menaces, and
proceeded to attack our cook, who, in order to hold his
own, was obliged to suspend the execution of a fowl. As
nothing farther occurred, we waited patiently the retui-n of
M. de Lagrde and his interpreter, who was very soon iu a
position to furnish us with explanations. Muong-Yong still
belongs to the inmiense province of Sien-Tong ; and Muong-
You, which we had supposed to be a separate kingdom, is
also a portion of it. In the town of Sien-Tong, as we ah-eady
knew, a grand Burman jnandarin reigns, by the side of the
king, having under his command two of his compatriots,
who fill the same functions, one with the prince of Muong-
You, and the other with the prince of Muong-Yong. It was
to the one who governs this last-named country we owed
all our difficulties.

It w^as the custom for all strangers of importance to
present themselves at once on then- arrival at the sala, where
the Burman conies to meet them in ceremonious state, and
there explanations are exchanged, and papers verified. We
w^ere in ignorance of this custom, and the police were sent
to enlighten us. The reports of these people exasperated
their chief; and the next day, when we wanted to fulfil the
necessary formalities, he received us in a haughty and indig-
nant manner. He examined our papers, ^imongst which he
vainly looked for a passport from the emperor of Burmah,
and it was with a sarcastic smile that he declared it was his
duty to detain us, imtil he had received orders from his supe-
rior at Sien-Tong. That prince had, it is true, authoiised us
at first to pass ; but we had entirely misunderstood a letter
from him, which we took for a polite invitation to pay him
a -^asit at his capital, and which, it will be remembered,
reached us atPal^o, and our interlocutor told us plainly, that
the desires of a man, who had the honour to dii-ect the affairs
of a province, for the government of Ava, even if they were
expressed discourteously, were orders it would be rash to
evade.

192 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

Nevertlieless, eacli present we gave him seemed to
sliake our enemy's resolution, — as the strolio of a battering
ram shakes a wall, — and we began to hope that he would
alter his opinion of us, and reduce some part of the three
weeks of detention with which he had threatened lis. But
the next day he had returned to his former idea. At the end
of a long discussion, he appeared to have again abandoned
it, but catching at another string to his bow, he told M. de
Lagree he could not let him leave without announcing our
arrival to his colleague at Muong-You; which was a useless
precaution, as that functionary had already authorised our
entering his territory. AVe fancied that this decisive obser-
vation had terminated the debate ; but we did not know our
adversary: he insisted that the step he was about to take
was simply conformable to custom, and would only delay us
a few days. We were, therefore, obhged to submit, and wait
for a letter from Muong-You. It arrived at last, but was
most vexatious. ' It is incredible,' it said, ' that, in^dted to
present yom-selves at Sien-Tong, you neglected to do so ;
we, therefore, do not admit people, who are so ignorant of
good manners.' He had, however, accepted our presents.
It was evident that these orders had been sent from Sien-
Tong itself. After having granted oui- request, the sus-
picious Burman mandarin had, without doubt, reflected;
hence the in%dtation to visit him, that he might see what we
were like, and sound our intentions ; hence, in the end, the
order to stop us. The hour of conjecture was past, and M.
de Lagree decided immediately on going himself to Sien-
Tong. He asked M. de Thorel, an enthusiastic botanist, who
would have herborised even under the poniards of the Bur-
mans, to accompany him; and he also took a few men, as an
escort. The Httle box of European articles was not forgot-
ten. We had already sent presents to the king ; but, being
ignorant of the existence, and, above all, of the importance,
of the Burman mandarin, nothing had been sent to him; and
this involuntary negligence on our part had certainly con-
tributed to the ill-will he bore us. The daring resolution
M. de Lagree had come to, obliged us to prolong om- sojourn
at Muong-Yong. We availed ourselves of the circumstance,
to endeavour to discover the principal elements of which

A FRIEND AT COURT. 193

the popiilation of Burman Laos is composed, and to make as
exact an account as was possible of their respective con-
ditions. Until then, we had gone on, in great measm-e, at
a venture, not knowing the political constitution of these
countries, and frequently taking provinces to be kingdoms.
By the aid of the information we gained at Muong-Yong we
gained a great deal of light on these pouits.

China, which has hitherto exercised an effective power
over these countries, has lost ground on this side. Of the
three ancient Laotian kingdoms, where, at this time, the rule
of Burmah is supreme, the Celestial Empire, from which Sien-
Tong and Muong-Lem have seceded, does not retain at Sien-
Hong, as we shall see farther on, even sufficient influence to
seat its own candidates on the throne. Not content with
the immensity of their dominions, the kings of Siam have
always desired more ; but, repulsed by the king of Sien-Tong,
since 1852 they have left the field open to the Burman em-
peror. This potentate sends representatives to each of the
Laotian sovereigns, who hold the same position as the Eng-
lish residents in India. The chief Bui-man mandarin, who
mles over all the tributary Laotian provinces, resides at
Muong-Lem, the most northern of the three ancient Laotian
principalities. That of Sien-Tong is the second. Under
him, as I have already said, are mandarins of inferior rank,
who watch the prince of Muong-Yong, in whose territory
we were staying, and the prince of Muong-You, whose ac-
quaintance we were soon to make. It was a sad spectacle
to see only the pale shadow of a native king, entirely put
behind, whilst the Burman mandarin swaggered in the fore-
ground, making a parade of his military escort, with the
brutal insolence of a conqueror. His conduct recalled that
of the Siamese mandarin, who occupied Cambodgia before
the establishment of the French protectorate. The soldiers,
following his example, seized what they chose in the market.
The king only retained his right of precedence ; and, in con-
sequence, it was to him we paid our first official visit. It was
quite different at Sien-Tong : there the native sovereign has
not abdicated; he still directs his affairs, and we should have
been lost, without his powerful intervention. Supported by
him, M. de Lagree had been able to hold his own against the

194 TRAVELS IN I\DO-CHINA.

ill-will of the mandarin resident, who, pertinaciously calling
us English, refused one day what he had accorded on the
previous one, denied boldly what he had just said, and con-
ducted himself Hke a man in whose heart hatred had left
no place for good faith.

The king, on the contrary, troubled himself very little
about our nationality, and seemed to find in the bad temper
of his watcher a good reason for treating us as fi-iends. De-
termiaed to facilitate our passage, notwithstanding the for-
mal opposition of the Burman, he decided on writing us
the letter, inviting us to visit him, which we had so unfor-
tunately misunderstood. He received MM. de Lagree and
Thorel with benevolent cordiality, and while the chief of the
expedition and his companion had the freest access to him,
his wife pleased herself in making them appreciate the re-
finements of Laotian cooking. The Burman, on the contrary,
remained hostile and menacing. Satisfied -with the petty
humiliations he was able to inflict on those whom he took
to be his abhorred enemies, this chief did not dare to pro-
voke a conflict, in which the king's energy seemed willing
to accept all risks. The Burman emperor has to be very
circumspect in his treatment of this great tributary, who,
with his troops, has gained a victory over the war-minister
of Siam in person, from whom he took a mortar, several
pieces of cannon, and other trophies, and he is well aware
that the king of Siam would joyfully accept the advanta-
geous position of sovereign protector, which he holds. Thi'^
rivalry of influences, and the duaHsm of authority which
exists, singularly favoured the success of our journey. The
negotiations, so skilfully conducted by M. de Lagree, secured
our entry into Muong-You ; and when there, we were only
separated from China by the small kiugdom of Sien-Hong,
which has a government of its own.

This good news took a long time to reach us at Muong-
Tong. It was preceded by a series of contradictory rumours,
which gave us great uneasiness. We had, however, become
completely reconciled to the Burman functionary, who, being
at last entirely satisfied as to our nationahty, fi-equently held
long conversations with us, which were very difficult to carry
on, owing to the absence of any interpreter. At the com-

WE START AGAIX. 195

mencement of our intercourse, this fiery mandarin always
came attended by a guard of a dozen poor wretches, armed
with all the flint-muskets in his arsenal ; but it was not long
before he dismissed them, and came alone for an amicable
chat with us ; his wife also, a nice plump little woman, did
not hesitate to pass long hours in our house, at the risk
of furnishing some material for local gossip. The explana-
tions we were obliged to give him, on the poHtical divisions
of Europe, had contributed more than anything else in effect-
ing this prodigious transformation. When he spoke of the
English (JEnglit), his eyes sparkled with rage, and he felt
the need of describing, with visible enthusiasm, the power
of the sovereign of Ava. The conquerors of the Burmese
had formerly pushed their reconnoitering even to these parts.
The king of Sien-Tong remembered having seen a European
oflScer, who passed his days in looking about him, and ab-
sorbing, with the help of a curious instmment, three times
more nom-ishment than a vigorous Laotian. This ofiScer,
with a robust appetite, was no other than the Major M'Leod,
who, by his friendly terms with the emperor of Burmah,
Tharawady, in 1839, got himself appointed to the post of
interim resident to that prince. His explorations in the east
of Burmah date back to 1836. He reached Sien-Hong, and
came across the Mekong at 22 degrees north latitude. It
would, no doubt, have been easy for him, at that time, to
have entered China by the road we were going. . To do so
to-day, it would be enough for the English to obtain from
the emperor of Burmah, who is accustomed to the most pain-
ful concessions, an imperative letter, addressed to his agents
in the Laotian provinces.

But this is not the best road for the flow of merchandise
from western China towards India and Europe. Captain
Hannay, in ascending the Irawady as far as Bahmo, followed
the correct road, which already unites Yunan to the capital
of Burmah. It is by this route that the productions of part
of this rich province wiU, one day, descend even to Rangoon.
I shall have occasion to notice, farther on, the obstacles
which Europeans, who may try to estabhsh regular commu-
nications between these two countries wdU meet ; — obstacles
which appear to be more owing to man than to nature.

196 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

The storm which had threatened us had happily passed
over. The Bui-mans were not the absolute masters of the
Laotian populations, which an English traveller has not
hesitated to declare superior to them, and their obstinacy had
been vanquished by the energy of a native prince. A letter
from M. de Lagree having told us to meet him at Muong-You,
we joyfully quitted the damp house, where we had spent
thirty days, inhaling fever with the poisonous breeze which
passed over the marshes. The Bm-man mandarin gave us two
letters of recommendation, cut with a knife on bamboo sticks;
one addressed to his colleague of Muong-You, the other for the
chief of the village of Ban-Tap. In this village there is a cus-
tom-house, the great end of which is to compel travellers to
quit the shortest road, that they may present themselves at
the administrative centre of the district; it is less a custom-
house, in fact, in the sense we attach to the word, than a
direct robbery of the traveller, who is compelled to purchase
the good graces of the authorities by presents. This inven-
tion of a merciless exchequer was very lucrative when the
civil war, which now desolates the country, did not prevent
the Chinese from traversing these regions, on their way to
Luang-Praban. Thanks to the passport, we were not trou-
bled at Ban-Tap, where we arrived, after a march under a
scorching sun, through the beds of streams and of torrents.
The roads had begun to get firm on the heights, but all
the lower parts were sloughs, where we frequently sank up
to our middle. We noticed, however, not without surprise,
certain useful public works : that is to say, on the border of
a stream. Tinder tufts of bamboos, in a sort of romantic nook,
were two benches with backs, and a wooden bridge across
a large river, uniting the two sides. We were evidently
approaching a civilised country ; for, with the exception of
the salas, constructed in certain villages at the side of the
pagodas, we had not seen, in all Laos, any measure taken
to facihtate travelling.

We had scarcely arrived at Muong-You, which is forty
kilometres fi-om Muong-Yong, till M. de Lagree rejoined us.
He had travelled more than one hundred and fifty miles to
reach Sien-Tong, which is on a very high plateau, and coTild
only be reached by scaling a continuous chain of mountains-

MUONG-YOU. 197

This city, which is farther from the Mekong than from the
Salween, appears placed on the hne which separates the
basin of these two rivers, of which the size, thus far inland,
seems the same. It must, however, be remembered, that
the Salween is not more than one hundred leagues from its
mouth, whilst the Mekong, by latitude alone, is more than
three hundred from the sea. The valley of Sien-Tong is of
immense extent, full of inhabitants, highly cultivated, and the
most beautiful one could well see. At this height snow is
not unknown, and the temperature, which is sensibly lower,
permits a great many European fruits, if not to attain quite
the degree of perfection to which they ai-rive in our climates,
at least to form and ripen. The population of the city is
sufficiently large to allow of a daily market, in which they
slaughter five oxen and a great many pigs. The inhabitants
of this region begin to repudiate the title of Laotian ; they
give themselves the name ofKugn,and caU Sien-Tong Muong-
Kugn. The ancient maps only know it as Kemalatain. The
multiplicity of different names given to the same locality by
the races which have successively acquired even a temporary
preponderance, is not one of the least difficulties which the
futm"e historian of these countries will meet with. The Kugns
have a whiter skin than the Burmans descended direct from
the Hindoos; but, like them, they cover the lower part of
the body with indelible designs, which show some art. What
is the origin of tattooing? Has it been borrowed by the
Laotians of the north from the aborigines, whom they have
supplanted 1 Have the Burmans themselves adopted a custom
which might have been in use with the savages at a remote
period, though at this present time it has been almost entirely
abandoned by them 1 This does not seem probable. As far
as the Burmans are concerned, tradition is not silent ; it ex-
plains tattooing in a manner which has, at least, the merit
of being piquant. One of their kings, it is said, becoming
alarmed by the general corruption of morals, ordered the men
to disfigure themselves, and the women not to hide their
charms, so that the perverted tastes of his subjects might be
attracted to them. M. de Lagr^e stayed in several villages
inhabited by men whom the Kugns called savages, though
they were quite as civilised as themselves. They have large

198 TRA^'ELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

well-constructed houses in general palisaded, markets, and
pagodas. They are not ignorant of agricultiu'e, commerce,
or industrial arts ; and, like the Romans, who, when they had
taken a Carthaginian galley, made a fleet from the pattern,
they make themselves excellent flint-muskets, after European
models.

We found that the crown of Muong-You was on the head
of the younger brother of the king of Sien-Tong, who showed
us so much kindness. The day following the arrival of the
chief of the expedition, we commenced our visits of cere-
mony. We were first conducted to the residence of the
king's brother, who complacently exhibited his delicate white
hands. He held his fan with as much coquetry as a pretty
woman her book of hours at the noonday mass. He was
surrounded by noblemen enveloped in long white robes, bound
round the waist, according to the Burman custom, with a
piece of silk of gaudy colours. These courtiers were as grave
as Roman senators. We avoided speaking to the king's bro-
ther of our afiau's, and contented ourselves with exchanging
courteous words. From him, we went to pay our respects
to the Burman mandaiTu. This man, the picture of solemn
foolishness, kept thinking what he should say ; let drop a few
words between wmks of his eyes, and gave himself great
airs. Happily, his wife served as interpreter, and contrived
to make us forget, by her amiable disposition and grace, the
fatiguing majesty of her spouse. At last, as a termination
of our visits, we went to the king. The palace is situated
on a rounded hill, firom whence the view embraces a vast
horizon of mountains. Though it was only constmcted in
wood, and covered with thatch, it showed real progress in
architecture. The carpentry was good, the partitions well
joined; there was also, near the palace, a number of sawpits,
which are entirely miknown in southern Laos. A crowd of
mandarins, in respectful attitudes, filled the room into which
we were introduced. The hght barely penetrated this spa-
cious apartment, the roof of which is supported by magnifi-
cent coliunns. In a corner of this hall, under an ornamented
canopy, the king was lazily seated on cushions of silk, em-
broidered with gold. He wore a turban, elegantly arranged
by a woman's hand, its ample folds entirely covering the

AMONG THE HILLS. 199

head, and hiding the hair. His costume was composed of a
vest and trousers of green satin, with gold ornaments. In
his ears he wore large gold cylinders in the lobes, set off at
one end with diamonds, and with emeralds at the other.
They were a present from the king of Ava. Our host seemed
to have disposed everything for effect; his attitudes were
gracious, but studied. A naiTOw window, near the throne,
was so arranged, that the sun's rays made the king's dress
sparkle like the wings of a glittering beetle. All the most
precious vases in the palace were grouped near their owner,
and the attendants brought each of us a large box in em-
bossed silver, containing all the materials for the preparation
of a betel quid.

This custom is still in existence here, though less prac-
tised than in Lower Laos. The areca nuts, being more rare,
one must be richer to get them to chew. The king of Muong-
You has a white skin, an intelligent, open and pleasing coun-
tenance ; he never tu-ed of asking us questions, and each of
our words appeared to open before him a new world, full of
strange visions. I realised, on seeing him, what an oriental
prince might be; and the charming fancies, which floated
in my memory as imaginary creations, were now embodied
before me. Unfortunately, there was another side to this ele-
gant picture ; for I saw empty bottles of pale ale decorating
the columns of the audience-chamber. This vulgar product
of European industry excites the same infatuation in the
king of Muong-You, which Chinese craqueles, for example,
that always look to me to be nothing but crockery dried up
by the kitchen fire — excite in our well-to-do idlers. In a
portion of the room, separated from the throne by lances,
whose heads formed a sort of silver grating, I remarked a
heap of elephants' teeth.

Our royal friend did not hesitate to make use of his peo-
ple, in order to render his own life agreeable. He carried
them, so to speak, of his own choice, on his back, as the
gentlemen did their forests and mills, on the Field of the
Cloth of Gold. We saw him five times, and always in a
different costume. He passed a whole day with us, insist-
ing on seeing everything. Taking for aim, unknown to the
victim, the figure of a grand mandarin, he made us use a

200 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

perfume-sprinkler before the queen, who could not resist the
desire to carry it with her wherever she ^vished to repeat
the process. The king showed us, in return, several speci-
mens of iron ore, which appeared to be rich ; he also confi-
dentially told us, that there was gold in his dominions, but
he did not dare to let us know where it lay. He is obhged
to disclose to the Burman mandarin all the gold-fields that
are discovered, in the same way as all the inhabitants of
his kingdom are compelled to reveal to him findings of a
similar nature. ' It is necessary,' he said to us, ' on the re-
ceipt of precise indications, at once to visit the place, and to
have the appearance of putting one's own hand, as though
by chance, on the treasure.'

We had no time for similar researches. It was our mis-
fortune to remaiu in places devoid of resources, in the midst
of hostile people, and only to pass through where informa-
tion of all kinds offered itself to as. For this we had no
remedy ; for we were unprovided with passports, and it was
free to the lowest mandarin to retard our progress; and
M. de Lagree wished to have quitted the territory of Sien-
Tong before the Burman mandarin, who resides near the king,
could receive the orders he had secretly asked for from Ava.
It became necessary, therefore, to resist the friendly persua-
sions of the young sovereign of Muong-You, who wanted to
enjoy a longer intercourse with us. Finding M. de Lagree
was not to be shaken in his resolution, he placed himself
completely at our service, made porters precede us with otu:
baggage, whilst he gave the orders to prepare our boats.
The current of the Nam-Loi bore us away. This river, which
is larger than the Seine, and as winding, flows first through
the plain of Muong-You ; with pretty houses, sheltered by
plantations of areca-trees, on its banks ; but it soon after enters
a region of varied aspect, and closed in by steep mountains.
The rain had almost completely ceased ; yet there still re-
mained sufficient humidity in the air to soften the glare
of the sun, and to cast a transparent veil, beneath which the
tints were delightfully softened, over the landscape. We
greatly enjoyed the spectacle, for we did so without fatigue.
The men who carried our baggage were in waiting for
us at the point where we landed. We slept in an empty

MUOXG-LONG. 201

bouse, open to all the -winds, at the foot of the mountains,
which we began to ascend on the following day. The path-
way was, in general, along their crest; and when, some-
times, it descended into shallow valleys, it was only to rise
again soon after to the heights. As far as the eye could
see, there was nothing round us but deep undulations: I
might have said, immense furrows, lite those the tempest
hoUows on the bosom of the sea. The play of light, with
its changing effects, following the clouds which passed under
the sun, added to the illusion by giving an apparent motion
-to the crests of these frozen waves. Numerous paths crossed
each other in the mountains. The one we followed, though
it was the ordinary road from Muong-Long, was overgrown
with shrubs, and while hardly traced out at first, was now
wholly neglected. In contrast with this, when we came on
a broad road, kept as carefully as the alley of a park, we
were told that it led to a village of savages. These little
towns, built, and as it were suspended, on the slopes of the
hiUs, are inhabited by a laborious population, who subsist on
the rice of the forests, which they irrigate by means of long
bamboo pipes, in wbich they bring all the water it requires.
They do not mix with the civilised people of the plain, whose
language they do not speak ; in short, they keep to them-
selves, intrenched in their pride, and live on the heights.

After walking for long hours in the motmtains, we at
last reached the plain ; and, as elsewhere, we perceived,
grouped along the banks of the streams which traverse it,
the habitations of those whom I. shall continue to call Lao-
tians. The land was cultivated far round, on every side,
the soft velvet-like green of the rice-fields delighting the eye.
Numberless villages revealed themselves by the white gables
of their pagodas, which were half hidden in clumps of large
trees. The valley is traversed by the Nam-Ga, a broad and
rapid river, which we crossed -without boats, though we had
to resist a current strong enough to tkrow down one of our
porters. We directed om* march towards a pyi-amid, the
point of which could be seen in the distance on a low hill,
at the foot of which lies Muong-Long.

To get into this chief place of the district, we had to go
through the market-place, between two ranges of houses.

202 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

■which lined both sides of the road thickly, and showed that
the village was of some importance. I will not attempt to
describe our surprise on perceiving a fine stone bridge across
a tributary of the Nam-Ga. Even in the best days of their
country, when they raised the magnificent monuments of
Angcor and Vat-Phou, the Cambodgians were ignorant of
the art of constructing arches; they could only corbel out
the blocks of stone. The Chinese are more skilful ; the arch
of the bridge of Muong-Long, built by them, is elegant and
solid, and the parapet is ornamented with sculptured lions,
now thro^vn down. The keystone of the arch still pro-
jected, on both sides, as a gargoyle. The Chinese, driven
little by little fi-om the country, are no longer there to keep
up the works by which the Laotians profit, without even
being able to prop up a falling stone, or to raise a tumbling
wall.

With the exception of this bridge and the paved cause-
way, Muong-Long has a very Laotian appearance. The
houses, made of the same materials as in Laos, are always
in the same style ; the inhabitants wear the same costume —
wide trousers, vest, turban round the head, and a poniard
passed through the waistbelt. We had barely arrived, before
we were surrounded by a curious crowd ; and sellers, be-
sieged our doors. We distinguished amongst them two
women ia long dresses, whose tiny feet were enclosed in
microscopic shoes. They were Chinese women, real Chi-
nese I There was no longer any room for doubt. These
women with mutilated feet, and the stone bridge — were
they not the signs of a different civiKsation? were we not
beyond Laos'? Venus Astarte rising from the Nam-Ga, the
Parthenon appearing all at once behind the bamboos, would
not have charmed our eyes and made our hearts beat more
than this simple bridge, ten metres in length, and these
poor peddling women, with their sun-burnt skin and thin
figures. Fifteen months of fatigue, privation, and suffering,
were in a moment forgotten. Chma I it was the end of our
journey, and it was also the commencement of our return.
Nevertheless, we were not yet there; for though we had
left Burman Laos, we had not in reality put our foot on
Chinese territory. Muong-Long is the first of the twelve

TIRESOJIE DELAYS. 203

Muongs Avhich form the kingdom of Sien-Hong, the third
state founded by the Laotians of the north, and Sien-Hong
has not kept its independence, any more than the states of
Sien-Tong and Mnong-Lem ; though, as a tributary to two
rival states, it in reality enjoys the privilege of self-govern-
ment more than either of the others. We found ourselves
at once at the mercy of Burman, Laotian, and Chinese man-
dai-ins. The chief of the village seemed, at fii-st, to be very
zealous in our behalf; and, at the request of M. de Lagr^e,
had the di-mn beaten to assemble porters for us ; but at the
moment of om* departure, a letter arrived from the king of
Sien-Hong to the mandarin of Muong-Long, his inferior,
containing, without other explanation, these simple words :
' When the Europeans an-ive at Muong-Long, you wiU desii'e
them to return by the road they came.'

This dreadful blow crushed our enthusiasm, and reminded
us that the fight was not yet over ; but we were too well
accustomed to the tricks of the authorities of this coimtry
to fear anything but a tiresome delay. M. de Lagr^e dis-
patched his interpreter to the king of Sien-Hong, and we
awaited his return at Muong-Long.

•The market, held in this place, is very considerable.
They sell a great deal of cotton, tobacco, and raw silk,
cotton stuffs imported through Rangoon, articles in silver
and copper, clocks, weights and balances, and edible com-
modities. Large restatu-ants were filled with a noisy and
picturesque crowd; a bar- woman offered to all those who
presented themselves a bowl of rice, rolled and cut like ver-
micelli, to which she added salt, allspice, fine herbs, pork cut
up very small, with fish-broth, which is made at the side of
each table in an immense iron pot, for sauce. It was very
different from those villages of Laos where every one lives
in a state of such profound isolation, that with the exception
of the pagodas, one never meets a single public establishment.

We had time to visit the monuments of Muong-Long.
There are two pyramids in the village, but one is not worthy
of description ; the other, on the contrary, from its origin-
ality, seemed to have left the rut into which religion, the
one source of art in these countries, has sunk Laotian archi-
tecture. A round tower like a skittle, supported at the

204 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

base by eight smaller towers, surmounting niches filled with
statues of Bouddha, crowns a low hill a little out of the
village. The whole is not without a certain elegance. I
cannot comprehend the meaning of these fantastic pyramids,
which, being neither tombs nor temples, give accommoda-
tion neither for the remains of the dead nor for the prayers
of the living.

After some days of forced halt at Muong-Long, the man-
darin brought us a letter from Sien-Hong ; in which the king
of this province, which borders on China, sought to explain
the brutal curtness of his first message. To believe him,
the Chinese authorities had ordered him to bar the road to
travellers vdshing to pass the frontier of the empire. This
was what we had previously heard said at Luang-Praban. The
king of Sien-Hong added, in a confidential manner, that if the
orders of the emperor of China did not appear sacred to us,
he, for his own part, would not oppose our journey.

Our interpreter had been charged to tell us, that we could
not pass anywhere without loading the functionaries with
presents of gold and silver. Had this argument been suffi-
ciently strong to produce a decisive impression on the king's
mind, and was he unwilling to let a chance escape him of
an honest advantage, by making friends, if not with heaven,
at least with its son ? We could only obtain the key to this
enigma by going to Sien-Hong, which place we reached
in three days, by roads well laid out, but much travelled
and greatly cut up. The oxen, carrying merchandise, had
poached furrows in the mud as it began to harden, which
might have been drawn by a plough, they were so deep
and regular. In haste to attain the goal, which, for three
months, had seemed to fly from us, we quickened our steps,
and confided our baggage to the porters, whose feet were
aching and shoulders swollen. These men will never con-
sent to travel more than thirty kilometres a day, when they
are employed as porters, but when charged with a mess-
age, on the contrary, they are both rapid and indefatigable
couriers. No distance frightens them ; and they will carry
a letter forty leagues across mountains and forests as easily
as, in Europe, one sends an invitation to dinner twenty
minutes' distance from his hotel.

A ROYAL AtTDIENCE. 205

A native, who had no special official character, else,
came to meet us, and conducted us to the pagoda destined
to serve as our lodgings. Mats were spread on the floor,
which was of mortar, and cords were passed from column to
column, like those seen in menageries to prevent the public
from touching the wild beasts. This precaution was not use-
less ; for a crowd soon collected, and pressed into the sanc-
tuary, impatient to see people who had come so far. At
the first glance at the population, it was easy to see that it
presented an incredible mixture of types and different races.
Some Chinese from Yunan, on the extreme frontier of which
we were, wore on their heads black turbans, as wide round
as a straw hat with broad brims. As for the authorities, they
continued to sulk. According to oiu" interpreter, we were
only at Sien-Hong, through his energy and intrepidity.
When he first arrived, no one would receive him ; and the
king having sent him an order to return to Muong-Long,
he replied, in the hyperbolical language used in the East,
'I am in your hands; you may kill me, if that will please
you ; but I have the order of the great French mandarin to
remain here ; and here I must stay till he come. If you
take away the life of your slave, you wiU expose yourself
to serious trouble ; for I belong to a master who never
abandons his servants. I must also inform you, if you
oblige the French to await, at Muong-Long, a reply fi-om
China, that they are a very hasty people, and I caimot
answer for the consequences that may occur in that small
place.'

This discourse, which was not devoid of ability, was car-
ried to the ruling powers, and produced on them a profound
impression. The grand council, or iina, which, in the kingdoms
tributary to Burmah, as .at Luang-Praban, assists the sove-
reign, assembled without loss of time. The king conferred,
for the greater part of a night, with the Chinese mandarin,
who, in concert with a Burman envoy, watches over the
affairs of the country ; and this functionary decided at once
to start for Muong-La, the first Chinese toAvn of Yunan.
They wrote, at the same time, to the governor of Muong-
Long, that we were to remain with him, informing him, at
the same time, that if we appeared to get angry, he was

206 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

authorised to let us go. This was the explanation of what
had seemed so ambiguous. As for the pretended prohibi-
tions, sent us by the Chinese government, we found out, at
a later period, the origin of these rumours. The pro-vicar
of the Catholic mission of Yunan, and the viceroy of that
province, on learning our arrival on the frontier, moved by
a sincere sentiment of sympathetic interest, both wrote to
us, each in his own language, describing the state of the
country, and the dangers of the road, and dissuaded us
from continuing our journey. Though Sien-Hong is a
tributary of China, they can barely read the Chinese charac-
ters; and the letter of the viceroy of Yunan, not being under-
stood, and being wrongly interpreted, was considered as a
prohibition from entering the territory. As for the letter of
the missionary, no one being able to decipher it, they deemed
it prudent not to speak of it at all, and we only heard of its
existence indirectly. Removed by only a few days' march
from a town entirely Chinese, and able already to count
on the moral effect of the passports signed by Prince Kong,
it behoved us to show ourselves confident as weU as reso-
lute. To avoid violence in word and deed, never to give utter-
ance to any definite menace, but to excite uneasiness — which
is more efiicacious the more vague it is — in the timid minds
of the mandarins, whom responsibility invariably frightens,
was a method we frequently found to succeed, and the
application of which had never been more opportune. M. de
Lagr^e had recourse to it. When a mandarin came officially
to inquire from him his intentions, he appeared hurt at the
obstacles placed in our way by the act of the king of Sien-
Hong; expressed no desire to see his majesty, and only
demanded to be allowed to leave for Muong-La without
delay, or else to write him the reasons for his detention,
which he would make use of as he should think best. This
conversation threw the cormsellors of the crown into a visible
perplexity, which was very amusing to us. They, at last,
decided on making advances to us, inviting us to appear
before the sSna, in the sala, where they transacted business,
after which the king would do us the honour of receiving us
in person.

The principal functionaries, to the number of twelve, were

TIRESOJIE DELAYS. 207

ranged on each side of tlie prime-minister, who was en-
throned on a bed-side carpet. They were attired with tur-
bans, white vests, and wide trousers, or else in white caHco
dressing-gowns, with a great langouti, in Burmese colours,
girt round the waist, and brought over the shoulders. To
the left of the prime-minister was seated the Burman manda-
rin ; a place to the right, ordinarily occupied by the Chinese
mandarin, was vacant : for, as we knew, he had set out for
Muong-La.. M. de Lagree made the assembly understand
that we only wanted one thing, and that was, to leave as
soon as possible. They then proceeded to the verification
of our papers, which a Chinese read, after the people had
squatted on the ground, for respect. They were foimd in
order, and they then introduced a subject which appeared to
be stall more serious. We were required to enumerate, and
show to the members of council, beforehand, the presents we
intended to offer the king. Our resources, in this respect,
w^ere much diminished; and it was the fii-st time, besides,
that any one had made a demand of the kind, which they
now maintained with such a rude insistance. M. de La-
gree refused to comply with the request. The discussion
lasted two hours, after which, the king having sent word
that he was waiting for us, we directed our steps towards
the palace. Several days had been spent in cleaning the
whole place. The dunghill, which filled the grand court of
honour, had been raked; but there had not been sufficient
time to take it away. We passed between a double row of
ragged men, armed, some with old firelocks, others with
lances and indefinable instruments of war or of the chase.

We recognised in the ranks our baggage-porters, who,
enrolled momentarily in the royal guard, had exchanged
the bamboo of the porter for a warrior's lance. This sight
greatly diminished the impression of respectful terror which
this military display was intended to produce on us. The
palace is a miserable house, in bad condition; and had
been fitted up with all the hangings the wardrobe had been
able to supply. Some Chinese carpets, ornamented with
embroidery in relief; prevented the daylight firom pene-
trating between the badly-joined bamboos of the walls. On
each side of the platform, which served for throne, crouched

208 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

guards, carrying sabres with gilt scabbards, the handle, as
usual, on the ground, and the blade on the shoulder. The
king, who kept us a long time waiting, at last appeared
from behind a curtain. He wore an indescribable costume.
His head was covered with a Chinese hat, gilt, and orna-
mented with little bells ; reminding one, if I might be so
disrespectful, of the musical instrument which is the stand-
ing accompaniment, in Europe, to the large dmm. A sort
of collar, with many frills, which came down in half circles
on the chest, their upper sides reaching the ears, made his
majesty resemble the classic Pimch. The king is a young
man about twenty years of age, who seems not allowed to
have any will of his own ; for a mandarin asks questions,
and gives replies for him. He has been placed on the throne
by the emperor of Burmah; and wears the small gold chains,
arranged in the form of a St. Andrew's cross, so much sought
after byBurmese nobles, as a mark of honour, and which Major
Burney, the first English resident at the court of Ava, was
gratified with. The question of our departure was men-
tioned, and decided favourably. We left the palace, as we
had entered, to the sound of music ; the orchestra consisting
of a guitar and a nasal voice. A tremendous shower of rain
had dispersed the troops ; the artilleiy alone were at their
posts ; three Chinese swivel-guns, stuck into the earth verti-
cally, and charged to the mouth, saluted us as we went ojBf.
The town of Sien-Hong, which in Pali is called HaMvi,
has still another name, — Sip-Song-Pana, which carries with
it an allusion to a kind of dodecarchy, of which it is the
centre, and which we have seen begin at Muong-Long. The
houses, which are very thinly scattered, have all a miserable
appearance, and give one the idea of a vast temporary en-
campment. The country has been desolated by war, which
has several times ruined the town; and the inhabitants, at
each new catastrophe, have gathered together on another
part of the plain. It is to this cause that the difference
of two minutes in the latitude of Sien-Hong, as given by
M'Leod in 1836, and as determined by the expedition of
M. de Lagree in 1867, is due. There remain of the ancient
town, at six kilometres firom the present one, some old gray
bricks, hidden amongst the vegetation, not far from the Nam-

SIEN-HONG. 209

Tap, which is a tributary of the Mekong, aud the remains of
a brick wall, separated by a ravine from an elegant and well-
preserved pagoda. A fine garland, iu carved wood, runs
below a ceiling supported by columns ; between these are
large and well-shaped windows, which fill the interior of the
building mth light.

The Mekong, which runs at the foot of the town of Sien-
Hong, carried us, for the last time, on its waters, and we
landed on the left bank of the river, at which we had not
touched since leaving Luang-Praban. We entered upon one
of the most rough and broken countries in the world, the
first moTintains which we had to ascend joining on to the
spurs which the Himalayas thi-ow out across Yunan. The
natives looked at us with a mixture of suspicion and curi-
osity. For the transport of our baggage we could only pro-
cure weak and sickly men, taken at hazard from the troop
of emigrants, whom the Mussulman insurrection had chased
from their country. Entu-e villages are peopled by these
unfortunates, who seem to find it hard to resign themselves
to the cultivation of a strange soil. The march became more
and more painful, as we had to ascend still steeper paths.
At 1200 metres above the level of the sea, we foxmd only
savages, and it was fi-om them we had to ask shelter for
the night. They have no sah, for travellers ; and we had to
content ourselves Avith a badly-roofed stable, where we were
invaded by myriads of fleas. Sleep, which our great fatigue
so imperatively required, could not triumph over these un-
seen enemies. It was the first time we had suffered such an
annoyance, and we recognised it as a sign that the nation, so
justly reputed to be the dirtiest in the universe, could not be
very far off. In these small villages we had some difficulty
in organising our transport; so much so, that, on several
occasions, we were compelled to employ both women and
children as porters. The most vigorous men took possession
of the lightest boxes, whilst their wives, bending beneath the
load, put a strap, fixed to the heaviest packages, over their
forehead, and walked along like oxen yoked to a heavy
strain.

Little by little the traits which characterise Laos pass
away from the customs, dress, and architecture of this part

P

210 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIN'A.

of the country. The language gradually alters, and melts
into another. The inhabitants of this intermediary zone are,
in reality, neither Laotians nor Chinese; they mix the two
idioms in their speech, and you see touches on their featm-es
taken from both the great neighbouring races. As regards
language, one passes, especially after leaving Luang-Praban,
through a succession of shades, which do not seem to con-
stitute different languages, but rather special dialects. Be-
tween the first and last link of the chain the distance appears
conBiderable ; but you receive a totally dififerent impression,
if you have come in contact with the links between.

Cultivation became more general on the mountains; the
houses were small, constructed with mortar, and rested on
the ground, not, as in Laos, on posts. The door is narrow,
and ornamented with bands of red paper, on which were
traced Chiuese hieroglyphics in black ink, beseeching the
e^Tl genii to keep themselves at a distance, or recalling to
the passers-by some fine maxims of the moralist Confucius.
These villages, set on knolls, or hidden in hollows, are very
picturesque. We stopped iu them twice a day, and even ia
the poorest we found a table and benches, — ^precious furni-
ture, almost unknown in Laos. The streets, the men, the
animals — are all plastered with mud, like the houses them-
selves, the partition walls of which, made of straw, earth,
and cow-dung, exhale a sickeniug odour. The buffaloes had
a fine time of it, and were taking their ease ; lying in the
mire, they looked on idly at the beasts passing, loaded vsdth
rice ; but they, too, have their hard work, for they plough
the furrow, from which the others bear home the harvest
thrashed in the field.

The mountains grew higher, and were covered with vast
forests of pine-trees. This natural ornament completely
changed the aspect of the country, which becomes one of the
most beautiful in the world. Torrents foam down the
gorges, veiled by a curtain of great trees ; sometimes, on
a ridge, a field of buckwheat shining in the sun looks as if it
were the beginning of the eternal snoAvs; the strong scent of
the pine-trees was dehghtful. Forgetting the fatigues of a
toilsome ascent, we wished to mount higher and higher still,
and at last see the Celestial Empu-e at our feet. We were

AVE REACH CHIXA. 211

close to it ; at each step material proofs confirmed our con-
\dction of this : the tombs by the side of the road piously-
kept up, the altars of stone, inscriptions in Chinese charac-
ters, and even a post of soldiers, wearing the tail, with the
martial appearance so often described. At last, in the
afternoon of the 18th of October 1867, five months after
our departure from Luang-Praban, and sixteen months after
quitting Saigon, from the summit of a high mountain, a
great plain lay stretched out before oui- eyes, and at its
extremity, on a low hill, was a veritable town, with its
white gables, red walls, and brick roofs. We were about
to tread the soil which bears one of the most ancient and
least-known peoples in the world ; all om- hearts beat with
emotion, and our eyes were moist with tears ; and if I had
had to die during the journey, I should have wished to ex-
pire there, like Moses on Mount Nebo, embracing with his
last look the land of Canaan.

CHAPTER VI.

WESTERN CHINA.

China ! This word alone awakens the idea of a people that
has triumphed over space by the extent of its empire, and
over time by its duration. One feels in the presence of a
nation, unchanging alike in its customs and maxims; and
which, notwithstanding the revolutions which agitate it,
and the invasions it undergoes, opposes to the cuiTent of
events and ideas a sort of colossal petrifaction. Imprisoned
in the meshes of an idiom, which makes intelligence subordi-
nate to memory, and in a network of institutions which regu-
late even the attitudes of the body, China has, nevertheless,
anticipated Europe in its social life, in science, and in art;
but the most finiitful inventions have remained stenle, as
though Providence had willed this race should pass abruptly
from a premature youth to an irremediable decrepitude.
Master of the half of Asia, this people might again assemble
armies as numerous as those of Gengis-Khan ; but its soldiers
fly before a handful of Europeans, after shaking at them,
in impotent menaces, the painted monsters whose hideous
shapes are to be seen on our screens and hangings. It is a
strange country, full of contrasts and mysteries, where gran-
deur is side by side with the grotesque, and where apes,
justly proud of the forty centuries of their history, look
down on you from the top of a folding screen as if from the
summit of a pyramid.

To visit this sphinx in the least-known part of its do-
main, was the hope which had so long sustained us, and
which we were on the point of seeing accomplished. We
found ourselves, in fact, on that extreme frontier of China,
which, until now, had never been traversed by a European.
We had not entered the Celestial Empire by its so easily-

OUR POSITION. 213

accessible coast, where the traveller finds more of Eui-ope
than of China itself; we were nearly 2400 miles from the
siimptuous hotels of Shanghai, and from that consular pro-
tection which extends to the confines of the habitable world
the shadow of one's native country. We arrived drained of
resources, without shoes, almost without clothes, in a coun-
try where esteem for outward appearance has survived the
horrors of a civil war. But whilst fearing to compromise our
dignity in the eyes of mandarins, who might judge of our
rank by our clothes, we hcd firmly resolved to make use of
the imperative orders of om- passports to assure om* safety,
and to make our persons respected. The letters signed by
the regent of the empire had, in reality, clothed us better
than the most brilliant official costume would have been able
to do, even in the eyes of this most formal of all races. The
representatives of the Chinese government did not justify
towards us their old reputation of perfidy; from which one
may conclude, it was to their want of power, and not to their
hostility, that the distress and the perils which the members
of the commission had to tmdergo during the latter part of
the journey must be imputed.

It wiU, perhaps, be remembered, that the Laotian king
of Sien-Hong, hesitating to let us continue our route, had
sent the Chinese mandarin, in residence with him, to take the
instructions of the governor of Muong-La. But the town
which lay before our eyes was no other than Muong-La itself;
so that the unworthy schemes by which, for a moment, he
had hoped to intimidate us, had not succeeded, thanks to the
firmness of our attitude. The orders of the emperor of Bur-
mah could no longer affect us ; we had slipped through the
hands of his agents in Laos, and had crossed over the south-
ern firontier into the province of Tunan, the least-known of
the Middle empire. Muong-La is called Seumao by the Chi-
nese ; it is also, I believe, the same town that an Englishman
proposed to unite to Rangoon by a railway, in order to bring
the whole stream of commerce of western China to a port in
British India.

After the inauguration of the Suez Canal, and on the eve
of the opening of the Mont C^nis Tunnel ; in presence, above
all, of that colossal enterprise, which has joined New York to

214 TRAVELS IX IN'DO-CHIXA.

San Francisco, notwithstanding the Rocky Mountains, — one
can assign no limits to the power of man. If the Anglo-
Saxon race should choose, some day, to apply to the execu-
tion of such a work the resources it is able to command, and
the perse\'erance which characterises it, it would, no doubt,
succeed in triumphing over all obstacles ; but I am inclined
to think it will be long ere it imdertake such an enterprise.
Without enumerating the difficulties of all kinds which it
would be necessary to overcome, before linking together the
mountains of Yunan and the shores of the Gulf of Martaban
by a railway, it suffices to say, that the immense sums which
would be swallowed up in this work would remaia a dead
loss, if the order of things inaugurated in 1855 by the revolt
of the Mussulmans prove permanent ; for a state, founded on
the triumph of Mahometan fanaticism, would leave such an
enterprise without a future, and without a guarantee. Proofs
will not be wanting in the course of this narrative to support
this assertion. We had scarcely entered China till ruins on
every side saddened us. The scourge of whicb we bad seen
the traces, more particularly in the province of East Laos,
had still more cruelly devastated this part of Ynnan, and
deserted or destroyed villages became more numerous the
nearer we approached the town.

Paved roads crossed each other in the rice-fields. We
followed one, which led us over a stone bridge, similar to the
one that had caused us so much pleasure at Muong-Long.
Then we entered the faubourgs. Women crowded to their
doorsteps to see us pass ; children escaped from school, fol-
lowed by their master, still carrying in his hand a long
rod, and wearing spectacles with round glasses ; and groups,
formed round the notices stuck up on the walls, left off read-
ing to look at us. Armed guards were in waiting for us ;
they saluted us politely, and requested us to follow them.
Our escort, which augmented at each step, soon compre-
hended the entire population of Seumao. We kept by the
wall of the town; then tm-ning to the right, we arrived, after
ten minutes' walk, at the pagoda where we were to stay.
The narrow court was already invaded, and the soldiers
had some difficulty in making a passage for us through the
tightly-packed ranks of the crowd ; they were even on the

CHINESE CREEDS. 215

voofs. The pagoda, a vast square building, quite open on
the side of the interior coiu-t, was in a moment filled by the
multitude, in spite of the effort of policemen, armed with
staves. These officials, finding themselves powerless to
keep back this flood let loose, were obliged to give way, at
the same time recommending us to look well after our bag-
gage. Accustomed for long months to vast horizons, and
solitudes without bounds, I felt myself quite giddy amidst
this human ant-nest, crowded into a narrow space.

A movement was, at last, made in the court; the com-
pact mass of the cm-ious opened, and closed again. It was
a mandarin, preceded by soldiers in red coats, who came
officially to bid us welcome. His tm-ned-up hat was orna-
mented with a cord and tassels of silk, and surmounted with
a blue ball. He bowed gracefully, and informed us we had
been expected for some time, and that they had begun to
despair- of ever seeing us. He ordered rice and pork to be
brought to us, and begged to know our wants. Notwith-
standing the presence of this functionary, the public pressed
closer and closer. The police, with their sticks, kept off the
most audacious ; and two of our Annamites, placed as senti-
nels, di-ove back the curious into the court, so that we might
have at least om- room to om-selves. It was only as night
came on that we were able to make ourselves comfortable,
having at last been left in peace. Our pagoda had thi-ee
walls, made of bricks whitened by lime ; the fom-th side was
open, as I have said, and sustained by beautiful wooden
columns. Our ancient acquaintance, the Bouddha of Cam-
bodgia and Laos, with its long features, hanging ears, and
contemplative and devout attitude, had given place to two
personages, life-sized, above whom a woman seemed to
hover, seated on a cloud.

Of the three great religions spread over China, not count-
ing Islamism, only that of Confucius seems to have remained
pure fi.'om all mythological and superstitious mixture. The
learned classes, who alone profess this doctrine, trouble them-
selves much less to seek religious notions in it, which indeed
they would not' find if they did, than a system of positive
philosophy and practical morals. With the exception of the
tablet of Confucius, which figiu-es in the temples erected in

216 TRAVELS IX IN-DO-GHIXA.

his honour, and in all the schools, this worship has no images,
symbols, or priests. The belief in Bouddha, on the con-
trary, introduced into China in the first century of our era,
under the reign of Ming-Ti, soon passed to the court of the
king of Tchou, prince-vassal of the empire, and to the hearts
of the poor, the miserable, and the suffering. Flattered, but
not fully satisfied, by the anathema of Bouddhism against
activity and life, these wretched people grafted on the dog-,
mas of Fo the superstitions which, in the absence of a well-
founded faith and philosophic doctrines, grow so easily in
the dartness of the human soul. Temples and images mul-
tiplied countlessly; but, at the present time, the Chinese
bonzes, a race now ignorant and abject, are frequently un-
able to give a reason for the behef which they profess from
necessity, and of the symbols that they worship from habit.
Finally, Lao-tseu, born at the end of the seventh century
before Christ, would appear to have played, contrary to his
contemporary, Confucius, the part of an inspired prophet.
Rising above the social horizon, going beyond the bounds of
national tradition, and despising philosophy, he aspired to
conduct his disciples to the heights of a cosmogony to which
one cannot refuse a character of grandeur. He taught that
supreme reason was preexistent to chaos, and ' connected
the chain of beings to him whom he called one, then to two,
then to three, who, he said, made all things.'^

What is most clear in his book is, that a triune being
formed the universe. Was this, as some affirm, a doctrine
borrowed from the Jews by Lao-tseu, in a journey he made
in the West, or, as others pretend, a remembrance of the
ancient triune divinity of the Hindoos 1 I cannot here ex-
amine the point. I simply wish to indicate the three kinds
of temples in which we were fi.-om this time called to take up
our abode, and to return thanks to Lao-tseu, who furnished
our first resting-place on Chinese territory.

His doctrines, disfigured by his followers, are become
absolutely unrecognisable in the present day. His temples,
like those of Fo, are filled with grotesque and grinning sta-
tues, objects of ridicule to the enlightened classes, who pur-
sue the Catholic images also with their iconoclastic hatred.
1 Abel RSmusat.

A CHINESE AUDIEyCE. 217

111 the pagoda whicli we occupied tliere were, as I have said,
a group formed of two men, who appeared to be under
a female raised above them: it recalled to my mind the
words of Lao-tseu, that 'all beings repose on the femin-
ine principle.' A small lamp, placed on a table, burns al-
ways before the virgin, and three pans are constantly filled
with incense. An old priest and two respectable priestesses
sufficed for the care of the sanctuary. Never were vestals
more accommodating. The sacred fire served to light our
cigars; the tables were loaded with profane objects, and we
took our meals on them.

The French flag planted at the top of the steps, the arms
fixed to the columns, the mats stretched on the ground to
serve as our beds — in fact, the thousand details of our daily
life, did not appear to disturb om- venerable hostesses, who
came regularly every day to salute the idols. After hav-
ing examined the oils of the lamp and the sawdust of odori-
ferous wood, they sti-uck three strokes on a little bell, and
prostrated themselves several times. These, with the ad-
dition of a pious lecture on certain days of the month, are
the whole duties of their worship. These good old women
seemed quite happy; they enjoyed their tranquil existence,
and did not refuse themselves small gratifications. They
had, for example, purchased two comfortable coffins, which
was an evident proof they had not arrived at a complete
self-denial. In Europe the Trappists dig their own graves,
and no enemy of monastic institutions has ever reproached
them for this custom, as being Epicurean. In China, on the
contrary, to furnish oneself beforehand with a coffin is a
luxury every one cannot aspire to ; they are articles of fur-
niture which cost very dear, above all when they bear the
name of a renowned manufacturer.

One morning, the palace-guards brought M. de Lagr^e
the governor's visiting-card. Some Chinese characters on a
piece of red paper signified that he wished to see us ; such,
at least, was the explanation given by one of ourselves, who,
at the taking of Pekin, had been in the squadron of Admiral
Charner. It is one of the advantages of the intense centra-
lisation of which China has given Europe the example, that
the traveller who has spent a month in Petcheli, does not

218 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CHTXA.

feel himself a stranger in Yunan, at the other end of the
empire.

To reach the hall of audience, we had to pass through a
high arched doorway, which crowned two overhanging roofs,
between which is arranged a place for two military posts.
The governor received us in a room at the end of three
courts. His excellency wore in his hat a ball of coral ; but
as he was a military mandarin, our respect for him was
greatly diminished. We were aware that, in China, the cedant
arma togce is pushed very far ; for civilians, as a rule, learned
or unlearned, profess even for the greatest general a dis-
dain which prudence does not allow them always to exhibit,
though the prejudices of his compatriots justifies his feeling
it. Besides, learned mandarins would be of as little use in
the province of Yunan, as a university professor in a besieged
town. Our host wore the usual Chinese costume, a furred
cloak, long silk robe, and magnificent tail; he had large
features, prominent eyes, and an open rather than a fine
countenance, which bespoke benevolence and firmness. He
would fain have added a certain air of majesty, but it did
not succeed. He spoke little, smoked his pipe, and remained
impassive till the moment when M. de Lagree offered him a
revolver. As soon as he comprehended the mechanism of
this weapon, his eyes shone like those of a war-horse scent-
ing the battle firom afar ; he sprang irom his seat, forgetful
of his dignity, and the six balls that he fired, one after
another, would certainly have wounded several of his sub-
jects, if they had not quickly turned his arm aside. The
haU of audience was, in fact, invaded by a noisy crowd, who
elbowed us, interrupting the conversation by their shouts of
laughter, and mercilessly cutting short even the discourse of
the governor himself.

He appeared to be animated with the best intentions to-
wards us, though he showed some uneasiness as to the aim
of our journey. One might have supposed he feared a secret
understanding between us and the Mussulmans. He also in-
formed us that all the western portion of the province through
which the Mekong flows, which he called Kioulang-kiang
(river of theNine Dragons), was in the hands of these enemies
of the empire. The experience we had gained in penetrating

RAVAGES OF WAR. 219

without passports amongst the Laotians, tributaries of Bur-
mah, had taught us a lesson, and we did not feel disposed to
incm- new perils. M. de Lagree, taking in the situation at a
glance, renounced, not without regret, the plan of following
the course of the Mekong, and determined, for two reasons,
to turn his steps eastward. From the first he was convinced
that, to penetrate at hazard into a disorganised country,
overrim by undisciplined bands, intoxicated with murder and
pillage, would only be to expose us to unpleasant occur-
rences, and to make us objects of suspicion to the faithful
authorities of Seumao. On the other side, in presence of the
certain development that the future reserves for om- colonial
establishment in Cochin-China, M. de Lagree felt it would be
useful to explore the zone watered by the SonkoL This river,
which is not much known at this part, has its source in
the north-west of Yunan, and falls into the sea in the Grulf
of Tonkin, where our flag would be able to secm-e an easy
entrance. The basin of the Mekong was, therefore, abandoned
for that of the Sonkoi, and a purely geographical interest
for a political one of the first order.

This determination, resolved on and announced at the
governor's reception, appeared to give him great satisfac-
tion ; and, coming out of his diplomatic reserve, he at once
became frank and pleasant. He promised us an escort ; but
he added that we must hasten our departure, for the war,
though for a moment suspended, was on the eve of recom-
mencing more furiously than ever, and the road which we
w^ere about to take was only separated by a thi-ee days'
march firom the Mussulman armies, which, chased firom Seu-
mao, were disposed to return again. This unfortunate town
will long bear the marks of the combats which have taken
place before its walls. The faubourgs and villages on the
outskirts of the town, which contained a population of at
least 30,000, have been destroyed; there does not remain
one house in twenty. The conquerors appear to have directed
their greatest violence against the pagodas ; some having
been entirely demolished, and others transformed into sta-
bles, whilst all have been desecrated ; altars thrown down,
headless statues, ornaments in pieces — present the signs,
but too well known, of that horrible form of civil war called

220 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

a religious one. I do not speak of the massacred popu-
lations, because nothing leaves less trace on the earth
than man himself: the most insignificant of his works at-
tests its existence by its ruins ; but of himself there remains
nothing.

The inhabitants were actively engaged in repairing the
walls of the town, and in digging a large ditch round them.
On the platform were accumulated, at equal distances,
piles of stones to shower on the enemy, and every day the
troops were exercised in firing. The siege-guns were long,
wide tubes of iron, half culverin, half musket. One soldier
attends to the gun-carriage, a second points the gun, and
the third, who stands, match in hand, fires it. All was,
therefore, in preparation for the approaching assault. The
walls seemed to be strong enough to resist it; they were
thick, constructed of good bricks and freestone ; the gates,
cased in iron, would stand, unless a powerful artillery should
be brought against them. As to the violations of the rules
of the illustrious Vauban, the bad outline of the enceinte, the
want of bastions, the glacis of the scarp and counter-scarp,
it is not my province to speak of them. The governor's
cabinet resembled the tent of a general in the field ; at each
instant couriers arrived and left ; he himself displayed sur-
prising activity; it maybe that the assurance his revolver
gave him had decided him on taking the oiFensive. He had
received, besides, fi'om Burmah, a quantity of European arms,
amongst which was a musket of Russian manufacture, taken
by the English, most likely, at Sebastopol.

Numerous files of horses and mules continually arrived
in the town, bringing cotton, firewood, and, above all, rice,
to warehouse in granaries, in anticipation of a siege. The
richer classes had completely deserted the menaced town,
and there only remained shopkeepers, functionaries, and
soldiers. Shoemakers, grocers, apothecaries, tailors, sellers
of opium, small traders of all kinds, braved the chances of
the war to gain some thousands of sapeques. This was for-
tunate for us ; for, whilst we provided ourselves with native
shoes, the men of om- escort made us clothes of a quasi-Euro-
pean style from cloth made in Bm-mah. We were anxious,
indeed, to make our nationality known by the cut of our

RAVAGES OF WAR. 221

coats and of our hair. Our Chinese purveyors seemed quite
indifferent to what we wore ; all they cared for was that our
money was good.

Whilst waiting our departure, I visited the shops, which
much interested me, and I spent some hours in observing
the working of the different trades, of which none exist
in Laos, and which are one of the signs of civilised life. I
■was frequently invited by the shopkeepers, whilst strolling
through the town, to enter and take a cup of tea ; an offer
which, in China, like that of coffee in the Levant, is the com-
mencement of all conversation. The mandarins saluted me by
bowing, in the same manner as Em'opean ladies ; for a well-
educated Chinese never tmcovers his head. We received
numerous visits. Our interpreter succeeded in making him-
Belf understood, by mixing with the language of the last Lao-
tian province a small nmnber of Chinese words; but the
rumours he had heard had frightened him so much, that he
did not dare to accompany us any farther in our journey.
We had certainly never counted on his courage, which was
easily shaken by the sHghtest appearance of danger ; or on
his devotion, which was not proof against money, or a wo-
man's smile ; but his quick and supple turn had fallen into
new customs as insensibly as into a new language. He
always managed to make himself understood, at least, by
the lower classes, which was an immense advantage, as we
soon discovered after he had left us. In fact, travellers in
China always provide themselves with an interpreter, or, at
any rate, with a vocabulary of all essential words, before
venturing into the provinces of the interior. We were, on
the contrary, thrown, without either of these resoiu-ces, on
the most distant frontiers of the great empire, separated, by
an invincible barrier, from a refined and exacting society,
and incapable of seizing even the Hteral meaning of edu-
cated conversation, and, of course, so much the more unable
to find out what men, accustomed to make use of speech in
order to disguise their thought, wished to hide under meta-
phors and ampKfications.

M. de Lagr^e fought against this new difficulty with the
energy of which he had already given proof, and succeeded
in triumphing over it. With a resolute character, but a tender

222 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

and sympathetic disposition, he had always found the way
to the affections of young people. Whilst acting as governor
of Cochin-China at Cambodgia, he liked to surround himself
with the pupils of the Catholic mission; many of them be-
came his servants, and never deceived his confiding affec-
tion. He did the same ia China. From the first day of our
arrival at Seumao, his benevolent manners drew towards
him a young Chinese without family or resources, like so
many others in this desolated province, and he made him
his teacher. By dint of work, patience, and gentleness, the
master and disciple became accustomed to, and finally under-
stood, each other. In difScult cases, vfe had recourse to one
of our Annamites, who had learnt to write, as they taught it
in his country, before the establishment of the French schools
and the substitution of the European alphabet for ideographic
writing. He knew a certain number of the Chinese charac-
ters most generally in use. If a Chinese and an Annamite
cannot understand each other when they talk, they can at
any rate communicate by writing. For each of them, in fact,
these complicated signs, whose origin was the representation
of real objects, have an identical signification.

On the evening before our departure, a message came
from the governor to the chief of the expedition, begging
him to remain another couple of days. Accustomed to these
delays, M. de Lagr^e employed the same means he had had
recourse to in Laos, and pretended to be very angry. After
long explanations, we at last understood that this was, on
the part of the mandarin, a very courteous proceeding, and
necessary form of politeness. It was good taste to appear
grieved at our departure, and to try and retain us, at least
for another twenty-four hours. If the desire of keeping us
longer with them, expressed in such an unexpected manner
by the authorities, was only a refinement of urbanity, the
popidation was animated by a much more sincere sentiment.
During the whole of om- stay at Seumao, the court of our
pagoda had not ceased to be encumbered with the infirm,
the sick, and the wounded, to whom Doctor Joubert liberally
distributed remedies, counsel, and care. There, as every-
where, sickness was the sad companion of poverty ; ulcers
showed themselves oftenest imder tattered clothes ; and our

CHINESE CIVILISATION. 223

establisliment, at some hours, was almost like the porches
of Bethesda. One of the employes of the palace, who had
escaped at the moment of receivmg correction for some
peccadillo, had been pursued by the soldiers, caught like
a hare, and literally hacked whilst lying on the ground,
exhausted and defenceless. Covered with deep wounds, he
was left for dead. We took him in, and repeated dressing
of his wounds soon restored him ; a prodigy of European
siirgery, at sight of which the joy of the friends of the
wounded man was only equalled by their gratitude. Our
reputation was at its height before we left, and we had the
satisfaction of leaving behind us regret and mutual good
feeling.

Our baggage-porters were poor creatures, who had been
compelled reluctantly to serve us. The commandant of the
escort was a mandarin of inferior rank, well fed, vsdth a broad
straw hat, with brims sloping down, a number of cushions
below him, and his heels in the stirrups ; a veritable Sancho
Panza on horseback ; as to us, we could not afford such a
beast. Before him marched several men, carrying red flags ;
behind were soldiers, some armed with lances, and others
mth muskets slung across the shoulder. These last, from
time to time, attended to the smoking-matches of their gun-
locks. It looked as if we were very likely to come across
armed bands, and accordingly we kept om- pistols loaded ;
for our Chinese escort did not inspire us with much confid-
ence. After leaving the town by the eastern gate, we fol-
lowed a road which wound between hillocks covered with
tombs. The sky was cloudless and of the deepest blue ; a
thin and scorched-up herbage covered the slight undulations
of the soil ; a few trees survived against a red wall, or a
white gable, the shining brightness of which attracted the
eye irresistibly. We might have fancied ourselves transported
into the fields of Provence.

Instead of the narrow pathway which, in Laos, served
as a road across the rice-fields, we found here a paved cause-
way, which did not even end at the foot of the mountains.
It entered them, still maintaining a width varying between
one and three metres, and recalled to mind the Eoman roads.
From time to time, when the way is too steep, a few steps

224 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

facilitate the ascent. We passed tlie night in an abandoned
pagoda at the foot of a monstrous idol, very much mutilated,
and its inside torn open. The treasures of the pagodas
being often concealed in the body of the statues, miscreants
do not hesitate to treat them in this impious manner. Clouds
covered the summits of the mountains when we again started
on our journey, and the rising sun could barely pierce through
their dark veil. We perceived ruined villages, and walls
which afforded no shelter ; not a house was standing, not an
acre in cultivation. The interruptions in the paving of the
road were frequent, and rendered the march difficult. Among
the blocks of stone which constituted the pavement, some
remain in the place they have occupied for centuries, and
others have sunk into the ground, or rolled into the ravines.
The time for such magnificent works has long since passed;
the administrative machine, which, in olden times, was so
well wound up, is now quite out of order; the empire is
threatened with a general dissolution ; the government has
no longer either the money or the leisure necessary for the
keeping up of these great works, executed in times of yore
by all-powerful emperors, whose reign they still honour.
More than twenty-two centuries before the Christian era,
Chun, a simple labourer, associated with himself, by Yao, in
the imperial dignity, had commenced making dykes, to pre-
vent the waters of the rivers from overflowing the country ;
and Yu, raised to the throne, as Chun himself had been, in
consideration of his services and of his valour, achieved this
colossal enterprise. In the year 214 before Christ, Chi-
hoang-ti laid the foundations of that famous wall, whose
construction occupied several millions of men for ten years,
and is a lasting monmnent of the power of the Chiaese. It is
to Chi-hoang-ti also that the honour is due for having laid
down these roads, which, after haviag first traversed the
Chensi and the Chansi, were afterwards added to, and finally
enveloped the whole of China in an immense network. Each
time a province was conquered, it was by similar benefits they
induced it to attach itself to the empire. To ameliorate by
improved laws, and enrich by works of great public interest,
the innumerable people successively grouped round the ori-
ginal kernel of the hundred families, was the method the Chi-

A MINING TOWN. 225

nese sovereigns pursued ; it was thus that they cemented this
gigantic unity, which required so many centuries to produce.
Yunan itself, so often lost and reconquered, that one might
almost consider it as a simple military colony, has not been
forgotten by the imperial government; and the works of art
which it has lavished upon it, lend to the ^vild grandeur of
the scenery which surrounds them a singular and remarkable
appearance. In the present day the roads are out of repair,
the bridges tumbling down, and a desert is formed around
these accumulated ruins. I could not have imagined such
complete desolation. Strangers though we were, we felt our-
selves overcome with sadness, and we followed in silence
the windings of a road, over which death seemed to have
passed.

All at once, in a narrow valley, we came across numerous
houses, rising one above the other on the two slopes of the
mountains. A long file of horses and mules, the sound of a
waterfall, black eddies of smoke, with a powerful odour of
coal, and the hum peculiar to manufacturing towns, roused
us from our melancholy. We had, at length, reached a town
sprung out of its own ruins ; the Mussulmans had vainly
tried to destroy it, for the greater glory of the Prophet ;
the energy of the inhabitants had prevailed, life had tri-
umphed over death, and industrial activity had fought for
three years against despair and misery. The secret lay
in the fact that the hidden riches • of the soil could not be
carried away, neither could the enemy exhaust them. They
might bum the houses, and overthrow the pagodas; but
they could not fill up the salt-pits, or work out the coal,
or destroy the pine-forests. A population of Chinese work-
men carry on the works, and make use of the resources
of all kinds which abound in this narrow space. If their
methods are not yet perfect, they are, at any rate, very in-
genious. The pits go down obliquely to a depth of eighty
metres in the earth, sustained at equal distances by wooden
frames. A large pump sends the aii- to the workmen who
are at the bottom of the pits ; and a series of smaller ones,
each of which is worked by a man, pmnps up the salt-water
through a bamboo pipe, which empties it into a large re-
servok, from whence they bring it into the caldrons. These,

Q

226 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

to the number of from twenty-five to thirty, are heated by
means of wood and antliracite. Tlie flaming niouth of the
furnaces charm the eyes of the traveller, who arrives sud-
denly in this favoured spot, after having traversed barbar-
ous or devastated countries. We saw a considerable quan-
tity of lumps of salt, obtained in this manner by evaporation,
warehoused, and ready to receive the stamp of the man-
darin tax-collector. At the end of this small town, which is
built like an amphitheatre, the pagoda lies in a nook removed
from all noise and exhalation. Built on the side of the
mountain, and shaded by beautiful trees, its brilliant colours,
and a semicircular basin before it, covered with water-
lilies in flower, delighted us. The Chuiese pagodas, whose
architecture is weU known in Europe, do not in the least
resemble the Bouddhist temples of Laos, which we had so
frequently lived in. Notwithstanding that they cover a
large space, they do not show the ample and sublime forms
which give to some sanctuaries in Indo-China, as also to
those in Hindostan, such an imposing majesty. They want
that grandiose unity — noble characteristic of sacred archi-
tecture — ^which, without excluding the richness of a luxuri-
ant ornamentation, reveals the profound sentiment from
whence works, inspired by faith, appear to spring forth into
one great plan. They have neither those upshootings to-
wards heaven, which are in Teutonic Europe like an image
of prayer, nor that harmonious development of architectural
lines which bear wdtness among the Greeks to such a serene
vision of ideal beauty. These pagodas are composed of long
suites of sanctuaries, and small retreats, connected one with
the other by terraces and galleries. The general appear-
ance is flat, and seems on a level with the soil. One
would say that the temples feared to approach the clouds,
after the fashion of the Chinese behef itself; which dreads,
above all things, to lose itself in abstraction. We found
ourselves, however, as did also the men of our escort, very
comfortable in them; and we not seldom regretted the
pagodas, in places where the war has permitted some ho-
tels to be kept open.

The second town in China in which we stayed was called
Poheul. In order to arrive there, we had to traverse pine-

POHEUL. 227

forests, Avorked without method or measure by numerous
woodcutters, by whom this richly-wooded country will soon
be destroyed. Poheul is not so well situated as Seumao.
Built in a narrow valley, two high mountains enclose and seem
to crush it. On the summit a many-storied pavilion and an
isolated tower produce a strange effect. These towers, of
which the most celebrated is at Nankin, are often in China
placed near the entrance to important towns. They appear
to be connected with a religious sentiment. 'According
to Indian tradition, when Bouddha died, they burnt his
body; after which they divided his bones into eight por-
tions, and enclosed them in the same number of urns, which,
in their turn, were to be placed in towers of eight stories ;
and this, it is said, was the origin of these towers, so com-
mon in coimtries where Bouddhism has penetrated.'^ These
mountains are decidedly picturesque : the large black and
white stripes of the calcareous rock blend with the green
boughs of a shrub, whose roots are buried in the stone. The
town of Poheul has suffered from the war, even more than
Seumao. One street alone is inhabited. They had begun
to dig a ditch, of some metres in width, round the walls ;
but this work of defence has been abandoned. Poheul
seemed to be resigned to its fate ; and the Mussulmans,
who have already taken it once, will find it open to them
as soon as they feel themselves strong enough to achieve
the conquest of the province.

This town, which has x-enounced the perilous position of
a place of war, remains an important administrative centre.
About two hundred years ago it was raised to the rank of
fou^ and the mandarin, who resides there, is conscious of his
dignity. He had not sent any one to receive us ofl&cially ;
and M. de Lagr^e having expressed some surprise at this cir-
cumstance, personages decorated with balls of all shades,

2 The Abbe Hue.

2 The territory of a Chinese province is divided into a certain number
oifou, of theou, and of liien, which have, all, a chief town, fortified. The
comparison that has been often made between these admiuisti-ative divi-
sions and our own (departement, arrondissement, canton) is not strictly cor-
rect. The functionaries resident in the theou, in general submit, it is true,
to those of a fun, but they are dependent, notwithstanding, sometimes,
directly, on the provincial administration.

228 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

hastened to us, offering to conduct us to the prefect's palace.
The crowd followed us, but were not allowed to enter, as at
Seumao, into the court of the Yamen. The conference was
less noisy and more dignified. The governor was the type
of the Chinese mandarin, as they are represented in all cm-
caricatures,— short and fat, with half-closed eyes, and some
long hau-s on the chin. He deshed us to leave, as speedily
as possible, for Yunan-Sen, the capital city of the province,
and not to pass through Lingan; for he could not understand
the motives, which induced us to study the region of the
south-east, instead of marching quickly towards the north.
Strangers, who wilUngly Hngered in Yunan, could not fail
to become objects of suspicion, when he would gladly have
paid a high price for the privilege of leavuig it. In fact,
the mandarins in this part of the country feel themselves so
unsafe, that they would prefer, in place of the administra-
tion of a prefecture in Yunan, a simple canton in Set-
chuen. Having, for the most part, sent away their families,
and placed thek wealth in safety, they consider themselves
encamped on a soil exposed to the incursions of the enemy,
and curse the short-sighted ambition, which has placed them
in this dangerous position.

During the whole of our stay, a great number of the
principal inhabitants, dressed in holiday attire, had not
ceased to pray, in a loud voice, on the threshold of their
door, before a pan of burning incense, accompanying them-
selves with monotonous beatings on a sonorous bell, and on
a piece of hollow wood, in the shape of a fish, bent into a
circle. They were members of the society of the Water-lilies,
a sort of fireemasonry, whose avowed aim is to disseminate
books of morals, but who pursue, in secret, other designs.
The Pe-lien-kiao, or white water-liKes, — for there exist sects
who hoist other colours, — expect a great conqueror, who
must ' subjugate the whole universe. They distribute among
themselves the principal offices of the state, in the hope that
one of them "will, one day, ascend the throne, and that they
will then, in reality, possess the dignities which they at pre-
sent only enjoy in imagination.'*

* General History of China. Translated from the Tong-kien-kang-mou
by Father de Mailla, vol. xi.

SECRET SOCIETIES. 229

It was to them that the emperor Yon-tching compared
the Christians, when, in 1723, he resolved to proscribe the
missionaries. Whatever may be the principles on which it
rests, every organised society is certain to have enemies in
its bosom. Despotism unites, against itself, men jealous of
their dignity; imder a liberal government, one sees a league
of the envious and incapable formed. Chiaa has not only
anticipated Europe in philosophy, science, and art ; she has
also undergone, before us, political revolutions. We were
still in the height of our feudal system, when a daring-
innovator tried to effect a social revolution in the Celestial
Empire. One might almost say that the human mind, left
to itself, is condemned to revolve for ever in the same circle.
In the second century of our era, towards the end of the
dynasty of the Han, a gi-eat number of mandarins were put
to death, imder suspicion of belonging to a secret society.
In the eleventh centmy, under the Song, Ouang-ngan-che
commenced the application of a scheme which tended to
give the exclusive property of the soil to the state ; which
distributed the seed, settled the sort of cultivation the soil
should receive, according to its various qualities, fixed the
tariffs, and suppressed, by these radical means, the proleta-
riat and poverty; two problems whose solution torments
us still. The empire was profoundly disturbed by these
dangerously utopian theories, which aggravated the evils
they pretended to cure. The actual sect of the Water-lilies
has never made so much noise ; but it deserves to be noticed
as one of the numerous manifestations of that persistent spirit
of revolt, always ready to inscribe seductive devices on its
colours. It was thus that the Taepings, whose sole aim was
pillage, stirred up a rebellion, in the name of national inde-
pendence ; saying, that they were called upon to overthrow
the dynasty of the Mantchou Tartars, as that of the Mongols
had been overthrown, five hundred years previously, by a
renegade bonze.

M. de Lagr^e, before advancing towards the east, and
thus going farther away from the Mekong, which flows to
the west of Poheul, desired to see it once more. The man-
darin having objected to this, under pretext that it would
be necessary to pass very near a camp of Mussulmans, there

230 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CHIXA.

was nothing to detain us any longer in this town, celebrated
only for the fine tea which is grown in its neighbourhood.
We announced our intention of leaving, and everything was
promptly prepared. The mountains were steep, and the rain
had made the roads very slippery. We stumbled at every
step, climbing up the steep slopes, which were covered with
rime, until we reached a large village, where the working of
the salt-mines is conducted on a considerable scale. The
pits from which they obtain this precious commodity are
very common in China, especially in the north and west, and
furnish a considerable revenue. The mandarin who ruled
in this district loaded us with presents — salt, pork, capons^
and a bag of rice. The reason why this subordinate showed
himself more generous than his chief, the prefect of Poheul,
was, that the military mandarin who commanded our escort
was charged to give him orders to that effect ; and he cer-
tainly carried them out: for besides serving himself from the
forced liberality of our hosts, he hoped that his zeal would
call forth a larger remuneration when he left us.

Our horizon was constantly bounded by high and barren
mountains ; ravines and landslips veined their black masses
with red earth, which looked like the bared muscles of
flayed giants. From the top of a peak, rising 1560 metres
above the level of the sea, we sa"sv at our feet a deep valley,
into which we had to descend by an almost perpendicular
pathway. Between two banks of white sand the troubled
waters of the Papen-Kiang flow to swell those of the Son-
koi, and to lose themselves in the gulf of Tonkin. We were
soon to quit the basin of the Mekong.

Among the emotions of such a journey as ours must be
added those one experiences in passing the line which sepa-
rates the basins of great rivers. At such a watershed, a
single step seems to take one on as far as if it were a week's
march. Water seems more living than the other powers of
nature, and it is doubtless to this it owes its attractions, so
strong and so mysterious. I liked to say to myself, whilst
crossing the smallest tributary of the Mekong, that its waters,
mingled with the waves of the great river, would reflect
farther down the tricolored flag ; and when, by the direction
of the streams, I knew that they carried the tribute of their

SALT-TRADE. 231

waters to another master, I fancied I saw the last ties severed
which had united me for twenty months to a friend.

Villages had existed a short time previously in this gorge,
and their ruins still remained. We followed, for a long time,
the course of the Papen-Kiang, which we crossed at night-
fall. Our Cliinese made their horses dash into the stream,
whilst others, on the opposite side, shouted with loud cries,
to show the animals, who were accustomed to this perform-
ance, the place where they should land. Beyond this rapid
river, we saw, uneasily, that our road lay partly thi-ough
the bed of a winding torrent. In Laos, where bridges
are considered a useless luxury, we were resigned, before-
hand, to enter all the marshes that came across our path.
Since our entry into China, such an occurrence was rare, and
made us doubly impatient, as if we were beginning to get
efifeminate. Here, again, were vast pine-forests — a gloomy
setting to an occasional house in red brick, still left standing,
which seemed to solicit the paint-bmsh of some artist. There
was no longer anything tropical in the scenery. The aspect
of the country became more wild and severe ; we were sur-
rounded by mountains, the summits of some of them being
lost in the clouds. The paved road was so bad, that, far
from helping us, it only added to the difficulties of our march.
The traffic on this road is very great, on account of the salt,
which the traders come long distances to procure. This
most necessary article of consumption alone maintains com-
mercial activity in this region, mmierous caravans braving
the perils of the way to bear it off. After a long ascent,
we reached a high plateau, where we found numerous vil-
lages, and a cultivated soil. Fields of rice and black wheat
nourish a considerable population, grouped around Taquan,
an important village and a compulsory station on the road
from Poheul to Talan.

Fom- or five hundred soldiers, who were staying there,
notified their presence by the noises which are habitual to
Chinese armies in the field : crackers, musket-shots, bronze
gongs, copper cornets, and guttural cries, saluted our ar-
rival. In times of peace, the journeys of the mandarins are
a heavy burden on the populations ; but when it comes to
the question of supplying the soldiers with provisions and

232 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

transport, it becomes a veritable scourge. These warriors
live by marauding, and commence by pillaging the villages
they are appointed to defend. The detachment stationed
at Talan was about to rejoin the valiant governor of
Seumao. Our little mandarin, whose hat was adorned by
a fox's tail, Avhich on his head might be taken as an
emblem, appeared delighted that the duty he was called
on to perform as our escort took him farther away from
the theatre of the war. He magnified our importance to
augment his own, and also, as I have said, in the hope that
the good entertainment he procured for us would likewise
benefit himself. Stimulated by him, a blue-balled mandarin,
residing at Talan, overwhelmed us with attentions, in the
shape of courteous visits and quarters of pork. On the
day of our departure this functionary headed us, without our
knowing beforehand, and had a salute fired in our honour.
Such honours puffed us up, and we blushed for our poverty,
ashamed at being tmable to acknowledge this noble beha-
viour better than by the offer of a small trumpet or a pewter
teaspoon.

The farther we advanced towards the east, the ravages
caused by the war became less visible. Ruins were not so
fi'equent, and cultivation disputed the soil ynth the woods of
pine. Villages again appeared on all the heights, but did
not look so bright in colour as those of the Qiinese villages
properly so called. They are peopled by mountaineers, who
recall, by their costume and the general cast of their features,
the natives of the northern frontier of Laos. The popu-
lation of Yunan is composed of elements so numerous, so
different, and so changeable, that it defies all analysis. It
would be necessary, in order to give any account of them,
to remain a long while in this, perhaps the most interesting,
province of the whole empire, and to make the manners
and language of the different savage tribes a special object
of study.

Yunan is one of the last provinces which has been
added to the Chinese empire. In the third century before
Christ, an epoch which may be termed recent, since the great
empire had already had two thousand years of historic ex-
istence, this country, divided between several independent

CHINESE HISTORY. 233

sovereigns, who were, in reality, only tlie chiefs of tribes,
was included under the general and vague denomination of
country of the western barbarians, and lay beyond the fron-
tiers of China, which, under the Tsin, did not, on the north-
western side, go beyond the river Leao-Ho. The &st em-
perors of the Han dynasty diminished still more the extent
of then- territory ; and on that portion of the dominion they
abandoned was founded the kingdom of Tchao-Sien, where
the Chinese, in difficult times, found a sure asylum. Han-
ou-ti, sixth emperor of the Han dynasty, put an end to this
state of affairs, by taking possession of the country of Tchao-
Sien, which he divided into four provinces, dependent on
China. At the same time, he reduced the two kings of Lao-
Chin and of Mimo, whose territories were situated partly in
Set-chuen, and partly in Ynnan itself and conquered the
principality of Tien, which corresponds to the town of Yiman-
Sen and its dependencies. All the Chinese provinces have
passed, in dififerent degrees, through this process of slow ag-
glomeration, of which it suffices to have given an example.

Under the influence of internal revolts, or political neces-
sity, before settling into the limits which they occupy in
the present day, they have undergone many alterations,
which are scrupulously noted in long annals, to which I
can only refer the reader. But what characterises several
provinces of the empu-e, and, above all, those on the western
frontiers, is the existence of certain races, which have shown
a singular vitality ; remaining distinct, in spite of conquest
and annexation ; their language, costume, and even, some-
times, the right of governing themselves by their own laws,
having escaped, at least in some measm-e, the deadly grasp
of a powerftil centralisation. Yunan, from this point of
view, merits particular attention. Stretching up to the
masses of the Himalaya, it shares the wild character of that
savage region, which banishes all effeminacy, and at the
same time protects its population by its mountain ramparts.
One must distinguish, amongst the numerous tribes, those
who, still calling themselves by the name of Tou-Ma (ab-
origines), have doubtless originally possessed the soil, from
those descending from voluntary emigrants, who entered
the country at a later period, and consisted of convicts, or

234 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CHI\A.

of soldiers who had finally renounced their original homes.
Of the first occupants of this vast territory, which to-day
bears the name of Yunan, the most numerous are the Lolos
and the Pai-y. The Lolos are divided into black Lolos,
white Lolos, red Lolos, and Lolos of the rice-fields. It is
on the colour of their clothes, and not on that of their skin,
that the three first distinctions are founded. The fourth is
easily understood. The emperors gained over these people,
by according to their chiefs the rank of Chinese mandarins,
and by giving them possession of their land. The Lolos
of to-day still submit to a sort of feudal organisation. They
have a chief of their race, whom they call Toussen ; but it
is difficult to know what they gain by him, for he stands
only in the place of a viceroy of the province, and exercises
over his subjects a despotic power. Timid, lazy, and in-
temperate, they shun the stranger, leave to their women
the care of cultivating their fields, and seek happiness in
intoxication. The Pai-y, separated from the Chinese, like
the Lolos, by their language, and even, it would seem,
by the characters of their writing, resemble the populations
of the south-west, and seem to be near akin to the Laotian
race. The Chinese government has equally respected their
customs.

In the fii-st rank of the tribes, descending firom emigrants
come from other parts of the empire, must be placed the
Pentijins. This race has lost, thi-ough contact with the Lolos,
the intellectual superiority which a more advanced civili-
sation had originally given it over these natives. The
Minkias, who are scattered chiefly in the western part of
Yunan, say they came from the province of Nankin. They
trace their origin to soldiers, who remained in the places
where war had called them, 'and there founded a colony,
comparatively civilised and even learned, which had its own
language, and was rich in literary monuments ; but the em-
peror of China, not being able any longer to tolerate such a
sign of independence, gave an order to bum all the books
belonging to the Minkias. Despots, not less severe on a
book than on a conspiracy, have always proscribed thought.
It was thus that the stern wan-ior, who, two hundred and
fifty years before our era, inaugurated the dynasty of the

NATIVE RACES. 235

Tsin, incensed by the resistance he encountered from the
learned classes, and their criticisms of his acts, in order to
stop their mouths, had all books of history and morality burnt,
and prohibited also the different sorts of Chinese characters
then in use in the empire, allowing only one form to remain,
that called H-chon, which is in use at the present time;' in
the same way as the Tartars of Europe are now striving to
proscribe the Polish language, by forcing the children of the
vanquished to speak Eussian in their schools. Nevertheless,
in justice, it must be said, that Tsin-chi-hoang-ti, who may
be called the principal founder of the Chinese empire, was not
actuated exclusively by anger, or by pride, in this rigorous
act of destruction, but was influenced rather by motives
of policy ; wishing, at one stroke, to efface history, always
so powerful over the imagination, and to destroy the titles
on which the vanquished feudal princes would have been
able to found their rights, and perpetuate their pretensions.

The Lolos, the Pai-y, the Penti, and the Minkias are not
the only tribes who live amidst the Chinese of Yunan, with-
out intermingling with them, like the Khas amidst the Lao-
tians; but I will go no farther in this enumeration. It is
said, though I have had no means of proving it, that, from
an intellectual point of view, the gradation is still broadly
marked between the different inhabitants of this country.
The missionaries do not hesitate to place the savages in the
lowest rank; after them the M^tis, half-castes of Chinese and
natives ; and finally the Chinese, who have at different periods
flocked into Yunan from the neighbotiring provinces, and
more particularly from Set-Chuen. The multiplicity of the
races has caused, as may be easily imagined, a great variety
of costumes, and it was only in the streets of the towns that
we ever found a crowd really Chinese as regards costume
and manners.

At the crossing of a large river we met a caravan com-
posed of more than a hundred beasts, who all courageously
swam over. The water looked spiked with long ears, and
the echoes repeated the loud protestations of the asses and
mules. Scarcely had our porters finished the stage for which
they had been requisitioned, than, without leaving us time
5 Fathei- Gaubil.

236 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

to pay them, they started off on their return home at a run ;
for since we left the tenitory of Burmah, at Sien-Hong, our
baggage had been carried by government porters, to whom,
according to custom, no remuneration is due for their trouble.
The mandarin sent from Talan to meet us arrived, preceded
by banners of all colom-s. His soldiers never tired of beating
on two gongs with different tones, which produced the effect
of two bells striking a funeral knell. This music was in-
tended to enliven us, and thus render the ascent of a vei-y
steep mountain, which separated us fi-om the valley of Talan,
less laborious. Every person of any importance had a horse,
or even a palanquin ; whilst our poverty obhged us to walk
always on foot, in spite of om* uncomfortable shoes, and to
the great detriment of our dignity. Notwithstanding the in-
equalities of the ground, the country in the neighbourhood
of Talan is highly cultivated. The rice-fields, arranged in
the form of an amphitheatre, cover the mountains in semi-
circular terraces. They sometimes overlook a spacious val-
ley, and recall the theatres of antiquity, where the gaze of
the spectator takes in a vast sweep. The houses, with their
. gray colours and closely packed appearance, would give Talan
the aspect of a European town, were it not for a vast pagoda,
whose roofs, rising one above the other, prevent the imagina-
tion from wandering far from China. Om- escort made the loud-
est noise they were able, and the entire population, warned of
our arrival, rushed out to meet us. They would have invaded
even the court of the pagoda into which we had been con-
ducted, if two of our men, placed as sentinels, had not stopped
the inquisitive crowd at the entrance to the second court,
whilst we established ourselves in the most distant part of the
edifice. On the altars here were no longer to be seen either
pot-bellied gods or grinning monsters ; only tablets covered
with Chinese writing, and enveloped with a light veil of per-
fumed smoke. It was the hall of the ancestors. Not a sound
from the outer world could penetrate this sanctuary, which
was as bare as a mosque or a Lutheran church. The spfrits
of the dead, hovering over our heads, filled us with respect
for the great man who placed veneration for forefathers
as the, basis of his creed. Unable to raise himself, by the
clear conception of the existence of the personal and im-

FALL OF THE CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 237

mortal soul, to the consoling dogma of the communion of
the living and the dead, he contended against the nothing-
ness to which every one after death was condemned, by doing
honom- to their memory. The ceremonies performed by the
Chinese before the tablets of their ancestors, were, as is
known, one of the two points which gave rise to the sad con-
troversies from whence began the ruin of the Catholic mis-
sions, which had been so flourishing in the Celestial Empire
during the seventeenth and part of the eighteenth centuries.

The Dominicans, who, at that time, were the most in-
tolerant defenders of a strict orthodoxy, accused the Jesuits
of authorising amongst the Christians practices which were
not only of a political or civil nature, but which, having,
above all, the character of religious observances, were tainted
wdth idolatry. Presently, though it would have been quite
possible to have arrived at an underst-anding, which, with-
out sacrificing any principles,* would have protected inter-
ests of the greatest importance, personal rivalry envenomed
the dispute. Without speaking of the conduct of Cardinal de
Tournon, whose proceedings 'recalled the despotic temper
of a Turkish pasha, rather than the paternal spirit of an
apostolic legate ;'' without reverting to the deplorable iadis-
cretion of the bishop of Pekin, who rekindled the quarrels
which had seemed to be dying out, I wiU say, whilst shel-
tering my incompetence behind a writer® not much suspected
of favouring that which the Holy See has condemned, that,
in this affair, the Roman Catholic Church lost one of the
brightest ornaments of her crown. ' The Jesuits did for the
Chinese nation what St. Paul did for the Athenians, and
what the Fathers of the Church did for all the Gentiles ;'
whilst the Dominicans sacrificed the spirit for the letter,
and gave a blow to the growing Christianity of these vast
countries from which it has never recovered.

When one travels in a country which has served as the
theatre of historical events, imagination replaces the great

^ The mandate of Cardinal Charles-Ambroise de Mezza-Barba proves
this : whilst exhorting the missionaries to follow the BuU of Clement XI.,
it svuns up and unites in eight articles the mitigations contained in it.

' Eohrbacher, Histoire UniverseUe de VEglise Catholiqm, tome xxxi.

8 Ibid.

288 TRAVELS IN INUO-CHINA.

men who have lived there, and, mingUng the emotion of
snch recollections ^ath the charm of nature, makes the en-
joyment of the traveller more complete and more vivid.
This satisfaction had been wanting to us in Laos, a country
which has no history ; and it would have been the same in
China, of whose annals I knew nothing, had I not been able
to carry back my thoughts towards the time when a pleiad
of heroic men merited by their labours the gratitude of the
Church and the literary world. On perceiving in the pagoda
of Talan these ancestral tablets, I could not help regarding
them with a feeling of bitterness, as the rock on which so
many hopes had been wrecked.

The curiosity of the Chinese soon interrupted these recol-
lections of the past; for they contrived, notwithstandmg om-
sentinels, to creep into the court through holes in the walls,
in order to peep at us. It is true that, in our quality of manda-
rins, we had a right to use the stick, without giving offence
to the populace, and thanks to this, our walks through the
town were made possible. The paltry earthen fortifications
round Talan had not prevented it from falling, like Seumao
and Poheul, into the hands of the Mussulmans ; but it had
been less badly treated by them, owing to the fact of its not
having the same commercial importance. The houses all join
together on each side of the streets ; the shops are opened
at an early hour in the morning, and there is a crowded
market. There, amongst the numerous specimens of the
savage races, certain women greatly attracted our attention.
Dressed in a picturesque costume, which showed to advant-
age their vigorous and elegant figures; then- marked fea-
tures, and almost Grecian noses, formed an agreeable contrast
to the pale sickly Chinese women, dressed in a sort of sack,
and hobbling along on two crushed and distorted feet. The
inhabitants of Talan had, however, suffered greatly by the
frightful crisis which is taking place in this part of the em-
pire. AH the necessaries of life had reached very high prices,
and potatoes, which are not much appreciated in China; were
ahnoet the only vegetables accessible to the poor. Our fin-
ances would not have stood a prolonged residence in this
desolated region, if we had been obliged to buy everything
at the price demanded ; happily, thanks to the excellent re-

MINERAL WEALTH. 239

lations we maintained with the authorities, the presents we
received amply sufficed to support us.

The season was temperate, and the month of November
presented itself with the colom-s it shows in our own cli-
mates. The gray sky was a little rainy, the sun could not
pierce the clouds, and the thermometer at mid-day did not
exceed thirteen degrees centigrade. This would have been
very agreeable, if we had had the means of warding off the
wet ; but sleeping on the floor of pagodas open to all the
winds, without mattresses, and sheltered only by a slight
covering, we suffered as only the poor do in France. Talan
is, nevertheless, situated very near the tropics ; but the ele-
vation of the valley above the level of the sea caused this
comparatively severe temperature.

The immense mineral riches enclosed in the mountains
of Yunan have been long since discovered. For a long dist-
ance round Talan there are numerous beds, and at Sio, a place
situated on the direct road to Tunan-Sen, h-on is in great
abundance. At sixteen kilometres fi'om the town, gold is to
be found ; but the mines, abandoned to private industry, are
worked by miserable wretches, who shiver on the mountain,
where they have established their encampment, digging at
random, and extracting the gold from the rock, by grinding
it, and washing the dust produced by this operation. This
labour seems to bring very small profits, but it is impossible
to say what Eui'opean intelligence might be able to draw
from this mine. For a long time back, the laws of the em-
pire have interdicted the searching for mines of precious
metals, or opening them, in the fear that the attraction of a
rapid fortune would divert the people from agi-i,cultural la-
bours. The wish to preserve theii- subjects from the evils
of the gold fever does honom- to the philosophical emperors
who have shown it ; nevertheless, now that China is on the
eve of entering into commercial union with the world, it
is to be regretted that the greatest portion of its metallic
riches is still unknown, or remains useless.

The mandarins of Talan, treating us as thefr colleagues
had done ever since our arrival in China, would not allow us
to leave without an escort. We passed along the outskfrts
of the town; the women, astonished, suspended their toi-

240 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

lette, in order to look at us ; and the boys shouted after us,
without daring to come near. We had not passed the last
house in the town, when we were already on the mountain.
On the side of the road, a human head, fixed in a wooden
cage, was a warning to vice, and an encom-agement to virtue.
The mountain, in which lay the gold-mines, appeared in the
distance, haughty as a parvenue proud of her riches, and
naked as though she disdained vain ornaments. A stream
which flows from it yields morsels of gold, which are col-
lected by the inhabitants of a village where we took a short
rest.

Notwithstanding that we were accustomed to keep a
watch over om' baggage-porters dm-ing the halts, one of them
had managed, by hiding behind a mat, to light- his pipe of
opium. "VSTien his load was again fastened on his shoulders,
he reeled like a drunken man, and refused to go on. He was
indifferent to menaces; a thrashing only made him moan;
nothing could rouse him fi-om his stupefaction. I do not
beheve there has ever existed a more terrible scourge than
opium. The alcohol employed by Etiropeans to destroy
savages, the pestilence which ravages a country, cannot be
compared to it. It exercises, an invincible attraction on all ;
the poorest beggar will smoke before dreaming of eating;
and what makes it still more frightful is, that the habit once
indulged in, one becomes fatally the prey of the poison. A
great number of Chinese came to ask us for remedies against
the temptation, to which they invariably succumb, even while
cursing it. The only remedy would be the energy capable of
enduring the sufferings of a smoker deprived of his pipe ;
but it is njoral vigour, stUl more, perhaps, than physical
strength, that opium commences by attacking.

It was now only as we approached villages that we again
came to paved road ; so that we knew by its reappearance
that the place for a halt was not far off; and, in general, we
pined for it, for our stages were long, and our march very
laborious in this hilly country. Slopes, broken by rice-fields,
made bends and capricious zigzags, almost like the walks of
a huge garden. Sometimes a whole mountain was under
culture from base to summit, and the water, pouring from
terrace to terrace, looked like a gigantic cascade. A fine

CHINESE BRIDGES. 241

and penetrating rain, which almost froze the marrow of our
bones, fell from the low gray clouds. The cold is a cruel
enemy in a country, where the inhabitants do nothing to
combat it ; it gives fever quite as quickly as the sun. Wood
was very difficult to obtain; and when we had succeeded
m getting from the natives the means of a meagre and
smoky fire, we stretched ourselves around it; then spoke
of France, of the winter evenings, and of all that makes the
heart beat, and the blood flow more quickly in the veins.

Amongst the works of public interest with which the
emperors have covered China, the bridges are not the least
remarkable. On arriving near one of these solid stone roads,
boldly thi-own across the torrent, we were able to realise
the difficulties which the perseverance of the Chinese have
sometimes had to overcome in their construction. Slabs of
white marble, standing near it, told its history. Accord-
ing to the inscriptions, it took nine yeai-s to make it, the
waters carrying away in winter the work which had been
accomplished in summer. On the opposite bank a moun-
tain covered with woods, convenient for ambuscades, stood
out almost perpendicularly. Gray ruins scattered amongst
the rocks gave a sinister appearance to this savage scenery.
Our soldiers dressed then- ranks, and we ourselves renewed
the priming of our arms, for bandits infested the environs,
and fi-equently attacked the caravans. A few days before
our arrival, two hundred horses or mules had become their
prey, after their drivers had been vanquished in a bloody
fight. The native warriors who told us this story, made
bold by our presence, had such a valiant appearance, that
we felt quite at our ease. We clambered for two hours up
so steep an ascent, that a handful of resolute men concealed
on the heights, would have been able to stop a whole army ;
but no enemy appeared.

The road, hollowed out of the sides of the mountains,
was suspended above narrow gorges ; and we passed along
through fogs, finding even in the vegetation the harsh
look of the northern regions ; but Yunan is, in this respect,
a cotintry of the most surprising contrasts. From the
summit of a narrow mountain ridge, the view of an im-
mense plain, traversed by a great river, filled us with

R

242 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHIXA.

admiration. The sun, tearing open the curtain of mist, in-
undated with light one of the most beautiful landscapes that
it was possible to conceive. Two ranges of mountains, lofty
and arid, %^Tith the warm tints peculiar to the East, bounded
the horizon before us; ravines, cut out sharply by the
streams, marking then- giant sides with deep wi-inkles where
the rock stood out bare, like the bony frame of a Colossus;
close at hand the Sonkoi poured along its yellow waters
between banks of white sand, and the town of Yuen-Kiang,
on the edge of the river, lay surrounded with half-cut rice-
fields, areca woods, and fields of sugar-cane, which gave to
the plain an incredible richness of shade, admirably blended,
and bathed, as it were, in floods of light. We took a long
time to reach the paved road, which conducted us to the
gates of the town. There, all the mandarins awaited tis in
robes of ceremony. Banners of all colours floated in the
wind. The noise of crackers and the firing of muskets
mingled with the sound of bronze gongs, and the lugu-
brious notes of a long copper trumpet, very like that which
will be used, according to Michael Angeio, by the angels,
when they smnmon the dead to judgment at the last day. We
had never before received so solemn a reception; it was, there-
fore, necessary to hold our heads very erect, and cast lordly
looks at the populace, to inspire them with sentiments of re-
spect, for om- outward guise was pitiable enough. The tem-
peratmre had risen, and it seemed as though we had descended
into a privileged region, separated fi-om the rest of the world.
A strange effect of om- long wanderings in the moimtains,
was what I might call the intoxication of the sun and the
plain. We found everything we could wish for in this oasis,
even to straw on which to sleep. Not content with having
come out to welcome us, the mandarins insisted on paying
us the first visits. They arrived, preceded, according to
custom, by soldiers carrying red papers, on which were
inscribed, the names and quahty of their masters, and fol-
lowed by servants bringing a hog, a ram, and capons, and
loaded besides with packages of oranges and tea. "V^Tien we
went to return the governor's visit, he received us most cor-
dially. He showed us his son, an infant in arms, and told us
it was his only child. We knew that he had several besides •

YUEN-KIANG. 243

but they were only girls, and they do not count in the
Celestial Empire. He possessed quantities of European
articles, which took away from the value of the modest pre-
sents we were disposed to give him. Watches, clocks, pistols,
stereoscopes, all seemed to be of English providing ; for the
photographs represented scantily-attired courtesans, with the
fair skin and red hau- which revealed their origin. There is
no prudery in commerce, even in prudish England.

The circumference of the town is great; but there are
many empty spaces, filled with briers, or cultivated with
vegetables. The market is considerable, and the shops
numerous. Nevertheless, we soon discovered at Yuen-Kiang,
notwithstanding certain appearances of prosperity, the signs
of mourning and of poverty. Epidemics are permanently
there, and a sort of cholera decimates the inhabitants. I con-
tinually saw coffins carried along the streets by four men ;
perfumed rods, alight, placed round the lid, exhaling a slight
smoke as they passed. The country is also infested with ban-
dits, against whom there is no guarantee for public security.
The mandarins limit themselves to particular measures, ac-
cording to the case, and on their own personal responsibility.
As for the police, they never act seriously, unless the victim
of the robbery or assassination have some social standing.
The wealthy are always escorted by soldiers when they
travel, or arm themselves and their servants; but the poor
become the prey of the brigands. A poor Lolo from the
mountains, who had come to sell us his potatoes, was seized
on his way back to his village, and despoiled of the sapeques
he was so joyfully carrying home ; and we saw him brought
back to Tis, his chest perforated by the stroke of a lance, to
obtain surgical aid, which the gravity of his wound rendered
useless.

The governor of Yuen-Kiang, showing himself full of
kindness and expansive confidence, we endeavoured to take
advantage of his frankness, which is very rare- with the
Chinese; but his ideas were confused, and his information
imperfect. We profited by it, nevertheless, to go and ex-
amine a copper-mine, five days' march from Yunan-Sen, at a
considerable village called Sin-long-chan, which is surrounded
by walls, and constructed on a sort of circular mountain

244 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

ridge, between larger mountains which overlook it. It is from
these mountains they extract the copper. Thej^ are pierced
with deep cavities, where the miner has followed the metallic
vems, but the search appears to have been discontinued
in the unmediate neighbourhood of the village, where
the streets are still paved with dross, the only works now
being at the distance of nine miles from Sin-long-chan ; where
they were able to- show us an establishment of small import-
ance, made by poor people, incapable of conceiving or carry-
ing out anything extensive. We saw several lumps of
mineral, which awaited very insufficient treatment, accord-
ing to our ideas, near a simple blast-furnace. The ore
appears to be very rich, and to be spread over a considerable
area. The red earth which covers it was dotted by the
moving shadows of thinly-sown pines.

We knew that copper figured in the first rank of the
mineral wealth of Yunan, the most richly- endowed pro-
vince of the empire in this respect. Before the present
troubles, it annually forwarded, to the treasury of Pekin,
ingots of crude copper, to the value of a million of francs.
But however abundant the mines of Sin-long-chan, under
other conditions, may become, they cannot be compared
to the argentiferous lead-mines of Sin-Kai-tseu. Situated
eighteen miles from Coqui, and near Tchao-Tong, at the
north-western extremity of the province, these mines, which
are above the level of the neighbouring river, employed, in
peaceful times, 1200 workmen, simply to draw off the water.
Money being very abimdant in these parts, there w^as much
gambling carried on, to take part in which travellers were
stopped on their joiu-ney, only to find themselves, first, thor-
oughly pillaged, and, then, forced to work in the mines, as
the price of then- Hberation, at the rate of forty sapeques
a day. Provisions being sold to them at high prices, they,
in this way, remained slaves for a long time. Though it
does not appertain to me to give an account of the minera-
logy of Yunan — that task being reserved for Dr. Joubert
— I cannot leave the subject without noticing the mines
of zinc, tin, and silver which exist in the plateau of Tong-
Tchouan, and also those of red and white copper (pe-tong),
worked near Hoeli-Tcheou. The cotmtry is almost entirely

CHINESE MONEY. 245

stripped of trees ; but coal, which is everywhere wasted, is
often found near the mines, whose value it increases tenfold.
Since I am describing on the spot the part of the empire
richest in mineral wealth, I find myself naturally led to ex-
plain, briefly, the monetary system of the Chinese. Civilised,
and foi'ming a firmly-organised society 900 years after the
Deluge, these people were already in possession of a symbol
generally adopted, which represented the value of things,
and facilitated exchanges. It is to Hoang-ti, one of the six
successors of Fo-hi,^ first sovereign of the empire, that the
honour is due of having invented money. He had it made
of iron, a metal we have seen render the same service in
some parts of Laos. Since then, money has changed very
often as to its form and substance: shells have been em-
ployed, and also baked earth, and paper ; but in the present
day, and for a long time past, it is on the copper sapeque
that the whole system rests. Whilst silver, exclusively con-
sidered as merchandise, remains in bars whose value is un-
certain, copper money is coined by the state, and marked
with its stamp. The copper-mines are the only ones of which
the monopoly belongs to the emperor ; who, by his exclusive
right of coining, and of working the raw material, can, by
this double privilege, raise or lower the value of the sapeques
like that of the metal of which they are made, by melting-
down a quantity, or, on the other hand, by setting the mines
in more active work. 'There was a time,' says Pfere Duhalde,
' when the deficiency of copper was so great, that the em-
peror destroyed nearly 1400 temples of Fo, and melted all
the copper idols, in order to make money.' Formerly private
individuals were strictly forbidden to keep vases or other cop-
per utensils, and they were compelled to deliver them up at
the place where the money was manufactured. The govern-
ment abused its right of coining to such a degree, at the time
when the Europeans exported rolls of sapeques, that, when
the civil war broke out in Yunan, and exhausted the princi-

9 From the time of Fo-M to that of the Emperor Yao, the Chinese
chronology is wanting in exactitude. It was only from the reign of Yao,
2357 years before Christ, that veritable annals commenced, which from
that time bear the impress of authenticity and historic accuracy. See Pere
Duhalde.

246 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

pal resources for obtaining copper, the worlcing of the mines
no longer sufficed for the demand. Alloy was then obliged
to be used, for -which zinc was largely employed. These
small coins are cu'cular in shape, and have a hole through
the centre, which permits of their being strung together : a
thousand are needed to make a roll. The dimensions vary
in the different provinces, and are not always identical in
neighbouring districts. Our first care, on reaching a halting-
place, was to acquaint ourselves with the rate at which we
should have to sell oiu- silver, on the exchange. To change
money is a much more complicated operation in China than
in Europe ; for eight fi-ancs cannot be changed without one's
being burdened with at least one kilogramme in weight of
copper coins. Mexican dollars were usually received with
favour ; and we exchanged gold in bars, and leaves, which
we had procured in Bangkok, against silver ingots weigh-
ing one Chinese ounce, and worth about eight fi-ancs.
These ingots are kno-wn by Europeans under the name of
tael. Representing, in a small bulk, a rather large value,
they advantageously replace, in all important transactions,
the copper sapeque, whose chief merit is to permit what
the Abb^ Hue so truly calls the commerce of the infinitely
small. Silver, whatever be the service it renders in the
market, is nothing more or less than an article of merchan-
dise, and every one cuts it according to his requirements;
and, in consequence, every Chinese carries about vdth him a
case containing weights and scales. In busy shops, they
cut every day, -with the aid of a hammer, a great quantity of
silver; and the particles which escape, confoimded with the
dust of the shop, are swept into the street, and gleaned by
the beggars.

However insufficient the geogi-aphical notions of the man-
darin of Yuen-Kiang might be, M. de Lagr^e did not hesitate
to mterrogate him. His experience had taught him not to
disdain any source of information. How many times, in the
course of our journey, had not some obscm-e piece of informa-
tion been suddenly cleared up by the light of subsequent
observation ! Our expedition, besides, was not without some
very valuable scientific documents, bearing the names of
illustrious and devoted Frenchmen. It was, as every one

CHI^-ESE GEOGRAPHY. 247

knows, owing to the admiration caused by their works, that
the Jesuits, admitted to the court of Pekin, acquired the
favour of the Emperor Kanghi. They drew up, province by
province, the whole map of the empii-e, so carefully that the
positions of the principal towns were very accurately assigned.
I may add, on the statement of the missionaries of that
time, that, previous to their arrival in China, the Chinese
had made great efforts to master the topogi-aphical configu-
ration of their country.

Father Amiot affirms that ' the chapter Yu-koung of the
Chou-King, which is perhaps the most ancient record of geo-
graphy in the world, excepting the Pentateuch, contains a
geographical description of China in the times of Yao and
Chun,' — that is, more than 2000 years before our era. The
learned missionary also adds, that the geography composed
under Ming's dynasty served as basis to the Atlas Sinensis —
the Chinese Atlas — of Martini, which ' is only a translation
and abridgment of it.' I have myself seen a cmious speci-
men of Chinese maps belonging to the governor of Yuen-
Kiang. The author, anxious before anything else for the
symmetry of his maps, had everywhere strewn them with
unifonn mountains, not very unlike sugar -loaves painted
green. Whether he wished to trace a rivulet, or indicate the
bed of a river, he gave an equal width to every stream of
water, taking care to make them commmiicate with each
other. The relative positions of the towns were pretty exact,
which is explained by the Chinese having known the use
of the compass long before ourselves. Their measure of
distance, which they call Li, corresponds to a tenth of our
terrestrial league. Our friend the mandarin replied to our
questions by keeping his eye on this map, which was familiar
to him, but which had the inconvenience of producing very
absurd ideas in his head as to the mountain system, and the
hydrography of Yunan. He confirmed our opinion, however,
that the river, which bathes the walls of the town, empties
itself into the sea, after having traversed Tonkin. Lying
between the basin of the Yang-Tse-Kiang and that of the
Mekong, it has its source in one of those southern ramifica-
tions of the Himalaya, which give birth at the same time to
the Meinam and the Canton river. It flows from the north-

■248 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHIXA.

west to the south-east, still bearing the name of Hoti-Kiang
at Yuen-Kiang, and only receives that of Sonko'i, at some
little distance from the Tonkin frontier. From Yuen-Kiang
to the level of the sea the barometer marks a difference of
only 400 metres, which, for such a distance, would lead one
to suppose that the Sohkoi flowed very smoothly. We
remai'ked the existence of several rapids, however, and the
information we received confirmed that of a cataract, impass-
able for loaded barques. This obstacle occurs on the Yunan
territory ; but from the fii-st Annamite market, which is not
more than three days' journey from Manko, the last Qiinese
one, merchandise can reach Kitcho, the capital of Tonkin, in
sixteen days by the river, without having to undergo any
disembarcation.

Before the war broke out, there w^as a good deal of com-
merce, especially in metals, between Yunan and Tonkin. A
great part of the zinc, which served to manufacture the
sapeques of the Annam empire, was brought by caravans to
the first Tonkin market, where the Chinese received silver in
exchange. This necessary and frequent intercourse had not,
however, entirely effaced the remembrance of the bitter
struggles which, in former times, distracted these two neigh-
bouiing countries. In the ninth centmy of our era, the
barbarous tribes of southern Yunan rose, at the same time as
those of Tonkin, against the authority of the Chinese em-
perors. The Annamite historians, who record this fact, aflJrm
that even at that period a portion of Yunan belonged to
Tonkin, and was only detached from it when the emperor
of China had accepted the chief of the revolted tribes for
son-in-law. Annamites are still forbidden to enter Yunan.
The existence of a great number of half-subdued savages on
the frontiers of that province, explains this measure in some
degree ; but, as may already have been suspected, the danger
for China lies no longer in that direction. At a time when
aU Yunan threatens to escape fi-om its laws, it is not against
•Tu-Duc's encroachments that it behoves the com-t of Pekin
to arm. If my information does not mislead me, it is the
sovereign of the Annamite empire, who feels uneasy at the
stream of Chinese emigrants, who, forced to leave their
■country by its troubles, have passed thi-ough the valley of

OUR TRUE POLICY. 249

Soukoi, to establish themselves in the north of Tonkin. The
strong position occupied by France in the southern extremity
of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, compels us not to remain in-
different to the serious events, which, for different reasons,
have awakened the fears of two Asiatic sovereigns ; and our
natural role at Pekin, as at Hue, consists in levelling, in the
interests of all commercial Europe, the old barriers which
separate the populations.

It has, perhaps, not been forgotten, that the project of
■uniting the western provinces of China to our Annamite esta-
blishment, was one of the motives which determined Admiral
de La Grandifere, in 1866, to propose to M. de Chasseloup-
Laubat, then Minister of Marine, to have the Mekong ex-
plored. It will also have been observed, from the first pages
of this narrative, that beyond the fi-ontiers of the protected
kingdom of Cambodgia, the river ceased to be practicable
for steam navigation. The illusions, which remained, after
the sad confirmation of this fact, had been dissipated little
by little, and the interest of our journey came to be, in the
end, concentrated on purely geographical questions. The
fortunate accident, which obliged us to abandon the Mekong
valley, threw open a larger field for our energies ; till then
too much confined to special studies, and it was with joy
that we foimd ourselves able, in giving a new direction to
our researches, to confirm a view which the men, who pre-
sided over the destinies of our young colonies, had long
been led by their sagacity to entertain. The so long-looked-
for communication, by which the plethora of the riches of
Western China would one day flow into a French port, is
to be expected by way of the Sonkoi, not by the Mekong.
It was an undisputed truth, which would certainly cause the
complete exploration of the Tonkin river.

For the time being it is necessary to reestablish the com-
mercial relations which fonnerly existed between the two
countries, both of whom are now suffering from the cessa-
tion of traffic. It would be much wiser to make those
numerous Chinese, who, in compact masses, have left their
struggling country, assist in the restoration and develop-
ment of these useful relations, than to behave suspiciously
and haughtily towards them. It is, however, these hostile

250 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

feelings, founded on inveterate hatred rather than on serious
apprehension, that led Tu-Duc to drive back the victims of
Chinese anarchy. It is no longer the time when the Celestial
Empire, at the height of its power, compelled the neighbour-
ing states to move in its orbit. It is undergoing too general
and formidable a crisis for its interference in Aiinamite affairs
to be dreaded. This is what is necessary to be understood,
in order to cast down the artificial barriers raised, for politi-
cal or other motives, between Yiman and Tonkin ; but it will
be difficult to make our ally comprehend it, tiU our influence
can combat the men of letters — those intractable enemies of
European ideas — ^who mould his policy. A protectorate, ex-
ercised directly as at Cambodgia, with power for immediate
action, -or, at least, complete commercial liberty, obtained in
the ports of Tonkin, and guaranteed by the installation at
Hue of an official representative of the governor of Cochin-
China, — are the only means I see for escaping from the
difficulties into which timidity without excuse, and scruples
that are much too tender, would drive us.

When one observes attentively the persevering efforts
made by England to attract to her Indian or Burman mar-
kets the commerce of Western China, one feels astonished
at our indifference as to availing ourselves of an exceptional
situation, and of cu-cumstances which will not always be so
opportune. To be the first arrivals, and to secure commercial
connections, is an advantage more to be prized in the East
even than in Europe, and this the present vsrar would seem
to offer us to an unhoped-for extent. This war, in fact, im-
pedes the former channels by which the products of Yunan
flowed into the valley of the Irawady, and opposes fresh obsta-
cles to the opening of that route between India and China,
sought for by the English with more perseverance than suc-
cess. When one considers that it is a question of turning
towards French possessions the products of a vast region,
which comprises, without speaking of Northern Laos, four
of the richest provinces in China, and of opening, in retiu-n,
markets to our national industry, whose customers could be
counted by millions, it must certainly be owned that such
a result is worth our taking as much trouble about as oui
rivals take to obtain it. Is it a time, when, by good fortune.

OUR TRUE POLICY. 2i31

it depends on oui'selves to precede them, that we should
stop before the touchiness of a despot, who cannot conceive
of fi-ee-trade without occupation of territory, and drives off
our merchants as though they were the forerunners of our
soldiers ? When a war of conquest is decided on, it is clear
that one accepts beforehand the consequences of success ;
and the opening of Tonkin is a necessary sequel to our
establishment in the six provinces of Cochin-China. This
part of the Annamite empire appears to be one of the richest
countries in the world. A double harvest is annually reaped
in its plains, which are cultivated by a laborious race ; its
mountains, which would be for Europeans livtQg in Saigon
what certain ranges of the Himalayas are for the English
residing in India — a place of repose and refiige from tropical
heat — aboimd in metallic veins ; and, finally, the missionary
influence, so weak in Cambodgia, utterly wanting in Laos,
and barely felt in China, shows itself there by an ever-
increasing number of conversions to Christianity. The best-
foimded calculations reckon the number of Christians in the
two . apostolic vicariates of Tonkin at four or five hundred
thousand. If experience teaches us not to trust too com-
pletely to the devotion of converts to European interests, it
would be unwise to despise such a valuable aid.

To explore the Sonkoi, of whicb we had only obtained
glimpses ; to encourage the native coasting trade, already
very active, between the mouth of that river and Saigon ;
to exercise legitimate pressure on the rebellious will of the
emperor Tu-Duc; to obtain a treaty from this prince, which
would provide for our political and commercial interests; to
seize, in fine, the opportunity of giving a downright contra-
diction to those who accuse ue of incompetency in colonial
matters, — ^is what should be undertaken with that confidence
whicb insures success. Such were the plans I liked to think
over, when, in the plain of Yuen-Kiang, I followed in thought
the now unused course of the beautiful river which lay at
my feet ; and such is also the hope which I shall not be for-
bidden to express when, having returned to my country, I
find France so strong, and the time so propitious.^"

1" Written in January 1870.

CHAPTER VII.

LANDSCAPES AND CHINESE SKETCHES IN TUNAN.

In 1812, during the forced marclies of the disastrous Russian
retreat, our exhausted and worn-out soldiers often dropped
down, to rise no more. Repose, for them, meant death. A
danger of another description menaces travellers in distant
lands; long halts are fatal to them; they are like death
to the soul. ^Tien one has to labour daily, in order to sup-
ply the bare necessities of life, physical actiAdty, over-excited
by an incessant struggle, increases with the obstacles it en-
counters ; and the mind, completely at the service of the body,
appears to have no wants and no requirements of its own.
But it soon avenges itself for this transitory subordination ;
and when material wants are supphed, intellectual privations
become more painful. We felt this each time that a length-
ened stay in a Chinese town brought us in contact with a
civilisation which appeared complete, and yet still left our
naost imperious desires and most ardent aspirations un-
satisfied.

Since the last sacrifices imposed, by the difficulty of
transport, we were without a single book which might, in
hours of lassitude, rouse up our thoughts, by making ue for-
get ourselves. I will not attempt to describe this most
cruel of our sufferings ; any one who has undergone similar
miseries — sailors wrecked on a desert island, or political pri-
soners immured in cells — will understand it at once. The
last news we had received of France dated back more than
a year. How many poignant uncertainties had we not ex-
perienced during this long period ! how many events, happy
or otherwise, might have befallen our family or country !

Our country ! We had always been confident of seeing
our efforts in these far lands contribute to her reviving gi-eat-

WE LEAVE YUEN-KIANG. 253

uess in the East ; but it was especially on the shores of the
great river, by which French influence could so easily pene-
trate into Western China, that the future appeared before us
in its radiant splendour. Like those navigators who plant
the national standard on a newly-discovered land, M. de La-
gvie had the French colours hoisted on the barques which
bore us along the current of the Sonkoi; whilst the salvos of
musketry, with which the authorities of the toAvn of Yuen-
Kiang saluted our departure, drowned the loud hum of the
assembled multitude. The sound gradually ceased ; but stiU,
for a long time, we saw the banners floating in the wind, the
red umbrellas moving to and fro above the heads of the man-
darins, and the lances and bayonets gleaming in the sun along
the walls, whose battlements appeared in bold reKef against
the deep blue of the sky. The Sonkoi, becoming hemmed in
between precipitous mountains, the plain and the town were
soon lost in the distance, and the bright visions of a second
Indian empire also disappeared as in the misty haze of a
dream.

Our barques having been stopped by a rapid, we were
obliged to land and resume our alpenstocks, to enable us to
climb the difficult slopes, which, after a month's march, were
to bring us to the high plateau on which is built Yunan-Sen,
the chief town of the province of Yunan. Half way up the
hill j in a hollow dug on the side of a barren mountain, the
village of Poupyau first appears to view, like a verdant oasis
in the midst of a desert. It is shaded by numerous arecas
and gnarled tamarinds, the age of which would seem to
carry far back the date of its foundation. The houses are
made of earth hardened by the sun : they are one story
high; and on their terraces the women turn their spin-
ning-wheels, walk about, or look to their household duties.
Oxen, asses, and pigs move about at liberty in the streets.
Poupyau, which reminded me of the small towns in Central
Egypt, enjoys the luxury of a surrounding wall. Sentinels
keep watch every night at the gates. The inhabitants of
this little fortified town belong to the Lolos race, represented
on the banks of the Sonkoi by numerous tribes, over which
the Chinese government exercises an authority which sensi-
bly diminishes as one reaches Tonkin. When the action of

254 TRAVELS IX IXDO-CIIIXA.

imperial power over even the Chinese is notoriously weak-
ened in Yunan, it is easy to understand that the yoke is
still less heavy for people of a wild nature and different
origin, who live amongst mountains difficult of access, and
where surveillance is an impossibility. Whatever be the
future fate in store for these natives, it is impossible to
deny the advantages which they, probably unwittingly,
have derived from Chinese domination ; numbers have fol-
lowed their masters' example, and from wandering hunts-
men have become clever agriculturists. At Poupyau, for
example, they obtain their food from the soil. They have
turned the course of a torrent, some four kilometres from,
the village, and have brought it through the mountains
into Poupyau itself, by an aqueduct constructed with the
first materials at hand, for they do not trouble themselves
much about elegance ; though chance has so willed it, that
these materials are a splendid marble, whose worn blocks,
polished either by the water or the feet of the passers-
by, show the most lovely colom-s. The feathery plumes
of the arecas, and the strong branches of the gnarled old
trees, shade the cascade, where women come to draw water
in attitudes and costumes which recall old biblical memories.
They wear silver ornaments round their necks and arms, and
are clothed in a simple dress drawn in at the waist; a vride
plait over the forehead fastens the cap which conceals their
luxuriant hair: their beautiful proportions, their noble and
stately bearing, aU combining to distinguish them from the
grotesque Chinese women, who look like maimed dolls, de-
void of strength, fi.-eshness, and grace.

At this village we had some difficulty in finding a suffi-
cient number of porters for our baggage; and it was with
sm-prise, soon followed by anger, that we saw the mandarins,
who were to conduct and supply us vrith these necessaries,
actually leading away a small caravan of government porters,
levied at their orders, and laden with merchandise gratuit-
ously supplied by the village. Others were carrying their
palanquins, or saddles, the honest functionaries wishing to
spare their horses as much fatigue as possible. It would
have been waste of trouble to speak to them of humanity ;
we could only insist on their folfilling their duty towards

MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 255

US, and supplying us with wliat was needful, before think-
ing of their own personal interests. Our rascally mandarins
took notice, however, of oui- remai-ks ; and to prove to us how
zealous they were, they seized, at the evening halting-place,
on the unfortunate chief of a Lolo village, guilty of having
manifested no great desire to help us, put him into a pillory,
and beat him unmercifully. We lodged with two good old
women, easily made Mendly by the offer of a few pipes of
tobacco ; and we passed the evening round the fire, whilst
our hostesses, seated near us, their feet over the cinders of a
brazier, smoked, and turned their spinning-wheels. A young
female savage wandered to and fro, playing tricks on her
grandmother, and after watching us a Kttle, at length ven-
tured on touching our long beards. Woman, more timid
than man, is by her nature less suspicious ; her sharper and
surer instinct sooner discovers uprightness of intention, even
under the most ferocious exterior. Towards midnight the
chief, having been released from his pillory, and rendered
tractable by the beating, woke us up to offer us a fowl.

The next day our way lay through a valley, at first
gloomy and wild. A torrent, which flowed at our feet over
a bed of marble, dashed against variegated blocks formed of
those hard concreted pebbles, called conglomerate by geo-
logists. These natural mosaics, which would have adorned
the palaces of Em-ope, have lain there for centuries, useless,
waiting for an eye to admire them. On both sides, in the
mountains, the calcareous rock had bared itself of the thin
coating of soil to show its splendid colours. Little by little
this gorge widened, and became populated and highly culti-
vated. Numerous villages lay sheltered under the great
trees. The gray houses are built of dried earth, and the
flat roofs support straw pyramids. They could easily be
taken for the thatched towers of some strong chateau. The
illusion is rendered still easier, because around the buildings
are battlemented walls, of about the same height as the
roofs. Everybody retires into his house, to defend himself
against the highway robbers ; but there is no barrier or wall
strong enough to defend the peaceful inhabitant from official
pilferers. All fled at the approach of oiu: mandarins and
soldiers. We suffered from these fears, of which we were

256 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CIIL\A.

the involuntary cause, and would hardly consent to halt in
the hamlets. The following day we entered the town of
Sheu-Pin, whose beauties, at first hidden by the promon-
tories, which at the same time conceal the plain, suddenly
reveal themselves to the enchanted gaze. Through an open-
ing between two hills, the dazzled eye loses itself on a vast
sheet of water, blue as the sky it reflects, and as calm as the
air, undisturbed by the faintest breeze. It is a portion of
the lake of Sheu-Pin. The town itself soon appsars, like a
floating city, joined to the land by broad causeways, and
narrower paths thi-ough the rice-fields. Pedestrians, horses,
palanquins, and boats move at the same time ; small islands,
covered with houses, are dotted over the azure lake : uear
us are buffaloes, up to their flanks in the water, harnessed to
a species of barrow, on which an almost naked man is stand-
ing, like the genius of the sea, drawn by some slimy monster.
At this novel spectacle, my sight became dimmed ; I hesi-
tated, and became for an instant incapable of distinguish-
ing the limits between the two elements, earth and water
appearing united, and confounded with each other.

The proper place for seeing, in their combined harmony,
the town, plain, and lake, is a hillock surmounted by a large
tower, which I ascended towards the evening, in order to
escape the keen curiosity of a troublesome crowd. On my
right, the sheet of water stretched out as far as the jagged
mountains which formed its boundary; the waning day threw
pale purple tints over all ; on the banks the white gables of
the numerous houses, which girdle the lake with villages,
stood out against the shadow of the mountains ; in the lake,
fishing-boats, and tufts of water-plants stretching up to the
light, sowed the surface with specks, at first scarcely seen,
but gradually thickening as the town was farther off". Small
reefs, inhabited, rose near at hand; then larger islets, crowned
with pagodas, whose fantastic style, hidden a little by great
trees, did not too much disfigure this wondrous landscape.
The town itself, generally without character or relief, but
then transfigured by the rays of the setting sun, appeared
to me like a conqueror over the lake, which surrounds it and
comes to die at its feet. The Chinese have had the very
Chinese idea of building at the extremity of each jetty a sort

A BOLD STROKE. 257

of entrance door, to mark where land begins and the other
element ends; not quite a superfluous precaution, and one
which, in reminding him of the city on the lagoons, makes
the traveller regret that the generations which constructed
Venice did not send emigrants into the plain of Sheu-Pin.

The governor endeavom-ed to persuade us, by his coun-
sels, to leave mthout delay for Yunan-Sen ; but we wanted
to visit Lin-ngan, and our persistence seemed to reduce him
to despair. At length he informed us that, as the Mussulmans
were hemming in this town, it would be very imprudent for
us to venture ; and, in addition, the military mandarin, who
resided there, forbade us in formal and concise terms to
enter the place. This mandarin had such a reputation for
energy and ferocity, that nobody at Sheu-Pin could enter-
tain the idea of six Europeans imagining the audacious pro-
ject of going contrary to hie orders, and braving him in
hie own town. In Yunan, those men who are still faithful
to the empu'e, serve it in their own way; Lean-Tagen,^
governor of Lin-ngan, excited by the struggle which he
alone maintains in this part of the province, and exasper-
ated by the treacheries which weaken him, no longer obeys
the commands from Pekin. Such were the observations
of the authoritiee when we showed them our passports.

M. de Lagr^e cutting short all these discussions, which the
Chinese have the art of rendering interminable, announced
his intention of leaving, and remitted to the governor of
Sheu-Pin, more concerned for him self than for ue, a declara-
tion, which, if needed, would guard the responsibility of
this timid functionary with his chief. On this condition
the latter consented to authorise our embarkation on the
lake; whose waters, flowing into the valley of Lin-ngan, bore
us within a short distance of that town. The news of oiu-
intended arrival had preceded us ; for a mandarin awaited
it. Gravely and silently he signed to us to follow him,
and led us into a large building, situated ovitside the walls.
The doors were closed, but they were immediately besieged
and hammered at by the populace. This insatiable desire

^ Tagen, that is to say, great man. It is an epithet, and sort of hono-
rary title, added to the names of personages occupying high civil or mili-
tary posts.

S

258 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

to see us being thwarted, provoked great indignation ; and
brutal curiosity was soon transformed into furious hostility.
Stones flew over the walls, and menacing shouts pursued
us in our retreat. Just then M. Gamier rejoined us. Having
left the expedition at Poupyau to explore the Sonkoi, some
few miles below the obstacles which had stopped us, he had
reached Lin-ngan two days before ourselves. He had a deep
wound on his forehead; and owed to his revolver the fact of
not being stoned by people, whose violence was unbounded.
This excitable populace did not wish for our lives ; they
only desired one thing, but they desired that imperiously :
it was to approach, feel, and examine us at their leisure.
The most audacious climbed the walls, and gave us from
a distance, by gestures, orders to walk, sit down, eat, and
even to sleep. They wanted to see how Europeans ac-
complished aU the functions of life. Besides becoming very
dangerous, if, like children who break a watch to study its
mechanism, they took the fancy to inspect a European as
critically, it may be readily conceived that this situation
was intolerable. We were obliged, however, before resorting
to force, to tiy every possible means of appeasing them. We
informed the mayor of the town that we perceived we were
mistaken, on entering China, to have counted upon our pass-
ports, rather than our arms; and, the emperor's word not
being a sufficient guarantee against the violence of the in-
habitants of Lin-ngan, we intended defending ourselves.
Whereupon a placard was posted on our door, which caused
the mob to hesitate for a moment, soon to return to the
charge with renewed fury. Of all the mandarins at Lin-
ngan, there is only one, the governor of Fou, who can still
exact obedience and respect from the people ; but, being
annoyed at a journey, made without his previous authorisa-
tion, he refrained from taking any protective measures in
om- behalf. He bore us a grudge, and rejoiced in his revenge.
Having, at last, been obliged to act by an energetic message
from M. de Lagrde, he presented himself early one morning
before us. He was truly colossal. He seemed humiliated at
having yielded, and kept his oblique eyes fixed on the ground,
which gave a most curious and constrained expression to
his bull-like face. We have since been informed that this

LIN-NGAN. 259

man is possessed of herculean strength : he can knock down
an ox Avith a blow from his fist, carmot find any horse strong
enough to bear him, and intermingles amusement with the
rough work of war. He has theatricals, and assists at dances
before going into battle. He abhors Mussulmans, both those
who have remained faithful to the emperor and the insm--
gents. Report accuses him of having supplied himself with
the red ball which he wears on his hat; but one thing is
certain, and that is, that he refuses allegiance to the viceroy
of the province. The latter having several times commanded
him to report himself at Yunan-Seu, he replied, as one of our
great feudal barons might have done : ' If you insist, I will
go there, but with my soldiers.' His name is feared for twenty
leagues round ; and later on we were considered prodigies,
when we said we had passed through Lin-ngan. This terri-
ble general dryly authorised us to spend a few days in his
town, and had a notice, sealed with his seal, placed on the
doors of our establishment. The disturbance diminished at
once, but even then, a large stone, passing between M.
de Lagr^e and myself^ fell on the table at which we were
writing. Two of our men rushed out and pursued the of-
fender, whom they caught, and tied by his tail, regardless of
his cries and excuses, to one of the columns ; after which we
delivered him up to the justice of the country. After being
imprisoned in a pillory, he had his head cut off the next day,
without our knowledge : for we should not have wished such
a severe punishment. He was, in reality, punished for hav-
ing infringed the commands of a chief, who maintains rigor-
ous discipline over all those beneath him, whilst at the same
time he frees himself from the bonds of his superiors. From
that time, our abode ceased to be a prison, and it became
possible for us to visit the town.

Lin-ngan, whose name is as well known in Laos as
that of Yunan-Sen, is sm-rounded by a double wall. It is
larger than Sheu-Pin, but not so bright or cheerful. The
houses are low, badly bmlt, and dirtily kept. A single prin-
cipal street leads from one gate to the other; it is broad
and straight; with this exception, the inliabitants are crowded
together in alleys. The pagodas are very numerous, occupy
a good deal of ground, and yet more are being constructed.

260 TRAVELS I.V IXDO-CHINA.

The Chinese architects have devoted their energies to the
decoration of some of these but it is more especially on
the vast garden, which comprises several hectares in the
centre of the town, that they have combined to lavish curious
ornaments and costly futilities, such as columns supporting
nothing, series of porticoes leading nowhere, and bridges
beneath which no water flows. The garden itself is super-
fluous in this fortified town, and its doors are always closed.
In all Chinese works there is something wrong and un-
finished ; one would say, that wishing to push to its utmost
limits the theory of art for art's sake, they build at great
expense an arched bridge on a flat surface, solely for the
pleasure of erecting it, as in former times they raised on the
northern frontiers of their empire that stupendous wall — a
monument, at once colossal and useless, which marvellously
characterises the genius of this singular race.

As far as the eye can reach, outside the town, tombs are
clustered together, enclosing more than a himdred times the
number of the whole living population. There is great uni-
formity amongst this funereal architectm-e. Sfaall porticoes
of bluish marble, or simple slabs, generally rectangular, let
into the wall which supports the rising ground: are the
usual shapes of the tombs. Their dimensions vary according
to the importance and wealth of the deceased. Sometimes
a spacious enclosure, filled with statues, and decorated
with columns, to which a monumental door gives access,
separates the body of a mandarin from ordinary corpses;
but marble tablets, covered with inscriptions, are most in
use. At Lin-ngan, these pretentious mausoleums are lost
in the immensity of the cemetery as a whole ; the columns
dotting it over alone attract the eye. No trees, no flowers,
no verdure ; nothing but tombs, whose marble sparkles in the
sun. This field of dead has no other enclosure than the
yellow cliffs and bare mountains. One might fancy oneself
transported into some necropolis of the Libyan desert. A
road crosses this cemetery, so different from those one sees
in France, leading to a lignite mine — a precious resource for
this woodless country, where the cold is intense. Small straw-
covered roofs protect the pits, at which four men work the
whole day, letting down the empty baskets into the shaft,

ASPECT OF THE COIINTRT. 261

and raising those the miners have iSUed. These pits and
the horizontal galleries under ground are strengthened by
■wooden frames ; but they would not let us go down.

Reassm-ed by the visit the governor had at last favoured
us with, the other mandarins hastened to do the same, loaded
with presents. To hear them, one would have thought the
conduct of the mob at Lin-ngan had deeply grieved them,
and they sighed at not having been able to proportion the
punishment to the offence. This avowal of weakness we
did not disbeHeve, when we beheld the crowd follow after
us, and invade the com-ts of the yamens, fill the audience-
chambers, or hold fast by the windows, and for a better view
tear the panes.* The resigned and abashed functionaries had
to wait for some burst of laughter or noisy conversation to
cease before they could speak themselves. We were not
deceived as to the meaning of this astonishing tolerance,
which was better accounted for by fear than by philanthropy.
The mere caprice of a mandarin is enough to beat or behead
a man ; and yet they dare not meddle with a crowd. Things
would, doubtless, have been different in the governor's pa-
lace ; but he had received us so badly, that M. de Lagr^e left
the town without taking leave of hini.

The direct route from Lin-ngan to Yiman-Sen being cut
off by the rebels, we were obliged to return to Sheu-Pin,
where we again received a cordial and hearty welcome.
When we left it the next day, the principal mandarin wished
to accompany us to the end of the plain, and quitted his
chair to vnsh us good-bye.

The mountains soon assumed their usual uniform and
severe aspect; the red earth appearing in places between the
thinly-scattered cypresses and pines. Some steep declivities
were deeply seamed by torrents. We passed along one hill
so eaten away through this that the narrow path ran along
the veiy edge of an abyss. For a long time back our daily
marches might be described in a few words : first, to ascend,
then to follow a straight road opened in the mountain-sides;
and, finally, to descend some gorge or valley, to find a rest-
ing-place in the villages. ' The inhabitants of these hamlets,
surprised of an evening by our sudden arrival, began to fly,
2 Glass being very expensive in China, paper is often used in its place.

262 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

like the savages of Laos ; owing, it appeared, to our great
resemblance, with our long hair and wild appearance, to the
Mussulman rebels.

' The brigands I''' was the very flattering exclamation
which saluted our arrival ; whereupon the women hid them-
selves, and the men fled. The escort imposed on us by the
mandarins was increased at every halting-place. In fact, the
soldiers would not consent to go any farther, except in force.
They kept up their courage while we were with them, but
they trembled at the thought of the return. Some villages
take the most minute precautions for their safety. Some
have fortified and palisaded themselves ; and have erected
towers about a hundred metres from their walls, where ad-
vanced sentries pass the night on duty. These soldiers only
have communication with the ground by means of rope-lad-
ders, which they let down or draw up as they please. Shouts
and pistol-shots redoubled during our marches ; and I was
constantly followed, for my part, by an odions man with a
gong, who would not desist from deafening me with his
wretched instrument. I got more quickly over the steep
parts by the help of this diabolical music; being less tempted
to pause for breath, and fleeing from my torture as the bull
flees from the goad. Presently the green trees gave place to
red marl, dug out and cut away in a thousand forms by the
streams; now rising in pointed pyramids held on by their
base; or now, in columns detached fi-om the mass, rising
isolated between two cypresses like the pillars of a ruined
temple. We reached without farther incident the town of
Tong-Hay, which is situated, like Sheu-Pin, not far from
a lake, and is a military place of some note. It is the re-
sidence of a general, round whom swarmed the quilted uni-
forms of battered make-believe soldiers, insolent and brutal,
who live by pillage, and are hated by the population.

A detachment of these soldiers was appointed to guard
■us, who amused themselves by pricking, with their lances
and knives, the faces of the inquisitive people who peeped
through the doors, purposely left on the jar. Enraged at
this treatment, the inhabitants, amongst whom were a large

^ Kouitsen, an injurious appellation, applied by the Chinese to the re-
volted Mohammedans of Yvman in particular, and to bandits in general.

TONG-HAY. 263

number of Mohammedans still faithful to the emperor, rushed
towards our dwelling, and just as we were going to dine, we
learnt that an assault was preparing outside. Lances, six
metres long, reaching to the top of the roof, were distributed
amongst the soldiery, who took up a position in the yard of
our lodging, whilst others Ut their matches, and filled the
pans of their gims with powder. A few slight wounds fright-
ened the assailants, and night put a stop to this revolt of the
inquisitive inhabitants : we insisted, besides, on the doors
being left open. Here, as at Lin-ngan, they seemed espe-
cially anxious to see us eat. The European instrmnents,
whicb took the place of the Chinese chopsticks, were the
objects of thorough examination ; and I overheard one saga-
cious man explain to his neighbour, that the large soup-ladle
was doubtless that of the chief of the expedition.

The town is surrounded by a rectangular brick wall well
built. A large principal street, with shops on both sides,
passes through its centre. The plain aroimd is well culti-
vated, and numerous villages, pressing towards the lake,
seem to dispute the cultivated land with the temporary pools
of the receding waters. We could not stir out without drag-
ging after us some thousands of men. The civil mandarin is
a small, timid personage, who appeared terrified at occupying
a post in this much-disturbed country. He abdicated in
favour of the military mandarin, a sturdy fellow, decorated
with a coral ball, and with a silvery moustache, who, on the
contrary, appeared very confident: he laughed and spoke
noisily, and drove away the crowd from the doors. On the
16th December the cold increased, and the next day we saw,
not without some emotion, the snow fall heavily enough to
cover the roofs, trees, and mountains. We were none the
less obliged to leave Tong-Hay. The earth was hidden
beneath a shroud, and in the morning one could not see
twenty paces, for a thick fog. When the sim rose, the sad
aspect of nature changed to a beautiful one : the bright
colours of the pagodas and red earthen houses stood out
wonderfully beneath the snow which covered their roofs;
several trees, surprised in full leaf by this icy shower, seemed
to regret their lost summer; others, more prudent, feeling
winter approaching, had covered themselves with red leaves

264 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CIIINA.

which, mingling with the snow, produced one of those mai--
vellous contrasts, which force a cry of admiration from even
the least enthusiastic. The flowers on the shrubs, with a
drop of frozen water in their cups, held down their heads, as
though dying; but the elegant palm-trees, bending under
the snow, appeared especially as if they were the true in-
habitants and characteristic illustrations of this intermediary
zone, where extremes meet, and winter begins to strive suc-
cessfully with the eternal summer of the intertropical regions.
This almost forgotten spectacle produced an extraordinary
sensation in us ; and was no less novel to om- Annamites,
who, notwithstanding the suffering which the cold caused
them, seemed struck with amazement, like blind men, who,
opening their eyes at thu-ty for the first time, suddenly be-
hold the curtain lifted on some grand scene of nature.

There could be few scenes more magnificent than those
we gazed upon during that march. The white summits of
the mountains were dimly visible beneath the sky, like pale
floating clouds, of different and curious shapes. The villages,
half-buried in snow, recalled those of the Alps; the mono-
tonous rice-fields had also disappeared beneath a slight coat-
ing of ice, and our eyes wandered over a transfigured and
dazzling country. We paid for these pleasures when we
halted : badly-built pagodas, paved with cold slabs of stone,
were our constant hotels; the wood, difficult to get, was
damp, and one had to choose between the pure but icy air
outside, and the smoky atmosphere of the interior, warmed
with great trouble by a fire, lit in the centre of our impro-
vised dormitory. At the same time it became necessary to
observe, in reference to the population, in which the Moham-
medan element became more fi-equent, certain rules of mode-
ration and prudence, often omitted till now by our Chinese
soldiers. They themselves, however, well knew when to
submit: for, though insolent towards peaceable folks, and
thieves when voluntary presents were the rule, they be-
came humble and quiet when they thought the inhabitants
of a town were secretly disposed towards the rebels.

Tchieng-Tchouan-Hien, a third-rate city, is also situated
on a lake, whose waters spread themselves, from a river used
for irrigation, into this immense reservoir surrounded by un-

TSIN-LIN-SO. 265

cultivated mountains. This lake is dififerent from those I have
formerly mentioned, in its larger dimensions, and the wild
nature of the surrounding scenery. On the stones standing
out of the water, and in the grottoes formed by the black
rocks which surround it, were several coffins, placed there
to be out of the reach of the Avild animals, which feed on the
bodies. I went close to this lake whilst visiting the town of
Tchin-Kiang-Fou, built not far from its banks; the sky was
gray, the water colourless, and on the snowy breast of the
mountains great banks of clouds floated slowly in warmer
air. The lugubrious and dismal aspect of the scenery was
enough to make one shudder ; nature seemed to have clothed
itself in fixnereal garments in preparation for the retm-n of
war and pestilence, for those two ministers of death give no
respite to Yunan. Farther on, the town of Tsin-Lin-So has
fallen a victim to this double scourge. The unburied coffins
lay in close rows upon the grovmd, and we halted amidst the
dead, waiting for the mandarins who were to precede us.
We saluted them, after which a Chinese, fat, short, squat,
and chubby as a village minstrel, went in advance, blowing
on a sort of hautboy. Our cortege resembled a village wed-
ding passing through a cemetery ; at every step heavy biers,
borne by four men, crossed our path. At the gate of the
town, the sharp sound of our fife was lost amidst the noise
of gongs and firing of guns, with which we were deafened,
by way of honour. The whole garrison was under arms, and
the joyous colours of the pennants floating at the ends of the
lances made a heart-rending contrast to the sad spectacle
afforded by the heap of ruins which was formerly the town
of Tsin-Lin-So. We were lodged as well as possible in the
first story of one of the few houses left standing, but even
it still bore traces of fire.

From the ramparts one could perceive the whole extent
of the work of destruction. Hardly a stone rests on a stone
in this unfortunate town : the ragged inhabitants have made
caverns for themselves under the remains of their dwellings;
and wander about amongst the ruins, appearing as far fi-om
the resignation which ennobles grief, as fi:om the despair
from which strength to combat it sometimes springs.

Outside the walls, the land for the most part remains un-

2G6 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

cultivated, and the dead, left exposed in the fields on whose
produce they once existed, await their burial.

Cypresses grow of then- own accord, and are almost the
only trees around. Accustomed to see them shading tombs
in Europe, we were reminded of our cemeteries, when the
brilliancy and splendour of the landscape diverted our minds
from these gloomy, thoughts. There is, besides, no com-
parison between the few square yards reserved in our coun-
try, by the municipal authorities, for the dead, and these
fields of rest, without other boundary than the horizon,
where the (Chinese lay their corpses ; instinctively choosing
a fine situation, as though the contemplation of nature, dis-
dained during hfe, was to be the eternal occupation of the
dead. This liberty concerning burial proceeds from the only
elevated sentiment which exists amongst the Chinese: re-
spect for the memory of those who are no more. The living
often suffer from this custom, which is a lasting and serious
evil for the public health.

We were approaching Yunan-Sen. From the summit of
a mountain we had abeady seen the lake which forms the
riches and beauty of this town. If the weather had per-
mitted us to climb the highest peak of these mountains, we
should doubtless have seen the five lakes which marked the
different stages of our journey across this magnificent region.
After having left the basin of the Sonkoi, and skirted that of
the Canton river, we finally entered the vaUey of the Yang-
tse-Mang, called by the Chinese ' the Eldest Son of the Ocean,'
It was with indescribable emotion that I contemplated the
humble stream, slightly swollen by the snow, flowing tran-
quilly towards the north, sending its waters into Shanghai,
as though to precede us. It was barely a metre wide, and
could not have borne a canoe ; I saw it already in imagina-
tion, however, rivalling the largest rivers in the world, seven
leagues from one bank to the other at its mouth, and covered
with European steamers. Marvellous power of imagination,
which combats, by the hope of futui-e joys, the effect of pre-
sent sufferings, and, whilst pointing out the goal to the tra-
veller, gives him strength to reach it !

Om' porters, not knowing that we were in the habit of
paying for services, made forced relays at every village, and

YUNAN-SEN. 207

compelled the peasants to supply them with substitutes. We
still came upon barely-closed coffins, laid along the wayside,
"waiting till happier times and less sickness allowed Chinese
piety to throw a little earth over them — or place them, ac-
cording to custom, in a small brick cave. We spent one night
m the town of Tchang-Khong, from whence we could see the
great lake, still ablaze with the setting sun, when the plain
was already in darkness; it was the time when demons,
riding on the moonbeams, descend to visit the dying, and
flutter around the dead. In the very pagoda we inhabited,
a crowd of men iu white — a sign of deep mourning — were
keeping a funeral wake. The sound of cymbals, gongs, and
piercing shrieks, to diive away evil spirits, prevented us from
sleeping; and morning having at last arrived, we set out with
pleasure towards the great city, where we hoped to find more
comfortable quarters. The plain lay stretched out before us
in all its magnificence, and its vast proportions appeared the
more astonishing to us, because we were 1600 metres above
the level of the sea: but the bare moimtains, which sur-
round it, are too low for such an expanse. The eye, always
more bewildered, than charmed, by what raises the thought
of boundless space, looked round, regretting the absence of
anything on which to rest, and seeking — vain hope ! — to dis-
cover afar some high monument, the top of a dome, the spire
of a minaret, or at any rate a town-wall with its battlements
and bastions. We passed through large villages; a broad
paved road, edged with fine cypresses, leading us into the
highly-cultivated plain, where the numerous population buzzed
around us, and a mixture of soldiers, and petty tradesmen,
revealed the vicinity of the capital. Situated in the lower
portion of the plain, Yunan-Sen cannot be seen until one is
within two hundred feet of its walls, and you are in its sub-
m-bs whilst you are still looking out for them. It is the mis-
fortune of Chinese towns, that they caimot be distinguished
one from the other, except by the space they occupy. The
houses are built each on the same plan, devoid of elegance or
grandeur. Passing their lives id loading their memories with
sonorous, empty formulas, or in labouring, selling, or buy-
ing, the Chinese only understand and practise trifles ; essen-
tially material, selfish, and calctdating, they have no sort of

268 TRAVELS IN INDO-CIIINA.

entliusiasm. For them, the sky is without a God, art with-
out an ideal, and towns without monuments. I was indulg-
ing in these reflections as I advanced along the principal
street of Yunan-Sen, now walking, now being carried by the
crowd, in the midst of which our little party seemed lost.
With the exception of missionaries, they had never before
seen Europeans, and the former, long obliged to hide them-
selves, have continued to wear the C3iinese costume. Our
beards, our long disordered hair, our strange garb, and espe-
cially om- arms, excited the liveliest curiosity; and it was
with a cortege formed of a large multitude, that we reached
the palace of the baccalaureat examinations, where we were
to reside.

This palace is a large building, occupying an immense
piece of ground, at the extremity of the town, and consists
of two principal sides, flanked with long rectangular build-
ings, in which it would have been possible to quarter a regi-
ment. We were obliged to devote some time to a regular
topographical study, to ascertain our whereabouts, in the
midst of a labyrinth of courts, halls, and dilapidated corri-
dors ; and could only discover, from the broken benches and
overtm-ned tables, the places where, formerly, candidates la-
bomred at those literary compositions, which serve as a basis
for the political organisation of the empire. Diplomas are
still competitive, but the posts are generally got by intrigue.
Never, in any country, has the sale of ofiices, and the venality
of fanctionaries, been carried so far. In Yunan, in particular,
pacific strife, the courteous passage of arms, from which ora-
tors, poets, and moralists came out administrators and public
functionaries, have all been abandoned. It is no longer with
arguments that they fight. Since our arrival in this unfor-
tunate province, as has been seen, we have followed the foot-
steps of the rebellion, and verified its" deadly consequences,
even in the departments still by name faithful to the em-
peror; but one had to come to Yunan-Sen, to be able to
appreciate the whole extent of the evil.

In traversing the town, we remarked, amongst the crowd,
numbers of Mussulmans who resist, or make believe to resist,
the ambitious projects of their co-religionists. From under
their large turbans, their fiery black eyes did not quail before

THE REBELS. 269

menaces; their straight, prominent nose attested their ori-
gin, the strong imprint of which still sm-vives, though they
have been intermixed for several centuries with a different
race. Their whole bearing breathes audacity, and their
haughtiness impresses a stranger all the more, because they
stand out in such strong contrast with the abject people
who surround them, like fiery Arab steeds, who have strayed
amongst a herd of beasts of burden. The mandarin Ku,
who had come to bid us an official welcome, made use of his
most winning and supplicating tones, to keep off the increas-
ing crowd, at our request. This functionary, we were aware,
bore the reputation of being cruel ; so it was not without
some amusement that we heard him, standing with his hands
folded, dressed in a furred silk di-ess, address a robust but
ragged fellow, who was determined not to leave the place.
He implored him, calling him his grandfather, and great-
grandfather, not to be so obstinate. We were obHged, at last,
to place sentinels, and oppose, by force, all these ancestors of
master Ku, insensible to the prayers of their grandson. These
extraordinary attentions, paid to the crowd, would alone have
sufficed to enlighten us as to this condition of the country.

The mandarins have everything to fear from these in-
subordinate people, whom an identity of origin, and of reli-
gious fanaticism, will, sooner or later, unite with the insur-
gents of the West, if, indeed, they are not even now leagued
with them by a secret understanding. They have already
been strong enough to foment a sedition in the city, to assas-
sinate the Chinese viceroy. Pan, and proclaim in his place
their grand muphti. The military commandant, a Mussul-
man, like themselves, was, during this time, shut up in Lin-
ngan, which he had gone to besiege, by the inhabitants, who,
after having opened the gates to him, had retreated into the
plains, and held him blockaded in thek own town. The giant
Lean-Tagen, who had so badly received us, consented, not-
withstanding the hate he felt towards a votary of Islam, to
allow him to make his escape, on his asking leave to go and
save Yunan-Sen. Once there, either because his attachment
to the emperor was sincere, or that he did not think it a con-
venient time openly to declare himself, he reestabHshed order,
dragged the grand ulema from the mountains, where the new

270 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHIXA.

coiirt had installed itself, and ordered him, after an ephe-
meral royalty which recalls that of Cardinal Bourbon when
he was opposed by the league to Henry IV., to withdraw into
the Tast domains of spu-itual matters, and not leave them.

The poor old uMma, shut up thus in his yamen, pre-
tends, since that period, to care only about astronomy. At
the time of our an-ival, the viceroy, Lao, who had taken
Pan's place, had just died. It was to him that one of Prince
Kong's letters, of which we were the bearers, was addressed.
His successor had been already nominated by the court of
Pekin; but, not being at all anxious to take possession of
such a perilous post, he wisely lingered at Setchuen, causing
us to have resort to his temporary substitute, Song-Tagen,
when we had any business. That dignitary received us with
great solemnity; music played at the door of the yamen,
near a brick screen ornamented with the classic dragon ; and
we were escorted, on our passage through the numerous
courts, by the body-guards, several of whom wore symboli-
cal and grotesque costumes, representing fantastic animals.
The viceroy came towards us, robed in a splendid pelisse of
dark fur, and the usual mandarin hat with cocked sides, also
trimmed with fur ; a fine peacock's feather, fastened into a
clasp of jade, which was surmounted by a bright blue drop,
farther enriching this headdi-ess. Song-Tagen is a handsome
old man, with white moustache, and a pleasing and gracious
smile; the dignity of his deportment, which becomes his high
position, is moderated by the urbanity of his manners ; and
he is thoroughly well-bred. As to his palace, like all those
we have visited before, it betrays the precarious situation in
which the Chinese functionaries live at Yunan. A crowd of
mandarins in full dress, plumed hats, and embroidered silk
dresses, remained standing in the audience -chamber, where
we had tea, and exchanged, with Song-Tagen, the well-
known polite commonplaces, which, even more in China than
in Europe, are the indispensable preliminary to any serious
conversation between those who have any respect for them-
selves. ,

Having reached Yunan-Sen, we had no longer any real
difficulties to encounter, and our return by Shanghai was
vu-tually assured. But it must be remembered that we had

YUNAN-SEN. 271

been obliged to abandon the Mekong at Kien-Hong, in
twenty -two degrees north latitude, 1200 miles from its
mouth; and if the question of its navigability had been de-
cided negatively, the question of its sources, which was the
other part of our programme, remained unsolved.

Though we could no longer allow ourselves to hope com-
pletely to clear up this point, it was possible, at least, to try
to see the great river again where it emerged from Thibet.
To convince the viceroy of the geographical aim of our jour-
ney, and to make him aware, without awakening legitimate
suspicions, that we wished to visit the west part of Yunan,
held by the rebels, without any ulterior thought of poHtical
alliance with them, was a most difficult task, in which M. de
Lagr^e failed, notwithstanding all his mental resources, which
had long been accustomed to Oriental diplomacy. In spite of
all our caution in speaking on the subject, Song-Tagen re-
sisted us, declaring that every attempt of this description
would baffle and endanger us; after which he turned the
conversation, without showing, however, any symptoms of
anger. We had thus ourselves warned him of our intention,
and did not act covertly ; and this sheltered us from any re-
proaches of ingratitude towards a personage who had ac-
quired, by a most loyal welcome, a right to our respect.

We had barely entered the garret we had chosen in the
bachelor's palace, as the best-built part in the edifice, and
the easiest to defend against a crowd or cold, when we re-
ceived, on red paper, an invitation to dine fi-om the Mussul-
man general Ma-Tagen, the commander-in-chief of the im-
perial troops, who was so cavalierly treated by the governor
of Lin-ngan, his subordinate. Various reports circulated as
to hifl secret intentions — ^reports often justified by his atti-
tude ; it was, therefore, very important for us, if he was really
in secret league -with, the rebels, which was not at all un-
likely, that we should keep in his good graces, and have his
aid, if we needed it. The town was closely sm-rounded by
the enemy's army; the advanced posts had already fallen
into then- power, and at any moment Yiman-Sen itself might
be taken.

The inhabitants had already begun to make their escape.
Two contrary streams jostled at the gates. The petty trades-

272 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

men sought to gain the moimtain, to hide their money, while
the population of the outskirts wished to get the protection
of the town walls. The rich merchants had long left the
place, and only the business people remained at then- posts,
being fully aware that every closed shop was certain to be
mercilessly pillaged, in case the town were taken, or even
if there were only distm'bances inside. Under such circum-
stances, we accepted with pleasure Ma-Tagen's advances;
and since he chose to feast, instead of going out to fight,
there was no reason why we should pretend to be better
Chinese than he was. So we put on the different portions
of the curious costumes we had hastily contrived for our-
selves, the remains of our European wardrobe being strewed
about the forests of Laos, and reported ourselves at the ya-
men of the general.

We found him seated at a card-table, in the middle of
the first court, surrounded by his companions, finishing a
game of chess, which seemed to absorb all his attention. He
scarcely rose from his seat to receive us, and had us con-
ducted, by one of his attendants, into a sort of small draw-
ing-room, elegantly famished, where we partook of tea whilst
awaiting oiur amphitryon. The sound of laughter and mili-
tary jests reached even there, and reminded us, spite of oui-
selves, of those garrison scenes so often reproduced in some
of our theatres. It was impossible to feel offended at the
cavalier manners of Ma-Tagen. Having risen firom a very
low position, he was well aware of his deficiencies, and, in-
stead of imitating the refinements of Chinese society badly,
he rather affected a freedom of manner and bearing, which
had the advantage of making his guests feel at their ease
with him.

We leisurely examined the different rooms of the yam en.
They were all comfortable, and betokened the presence of a
man who felt sure of the future. Chinese paintings and Can-
ton lanterns ornamented the walls and ceilings. In one of
the small rooms off the salon, two young misses in chalk
looked down, seemingly in astonishment at finding them-
selves in the possession of an old soldier, a fervent disciple
of Mahomet. As soon as Ma-Tagen rejoined us, he began
to question us concerning Medina and Mecca. The ramadan

51A-TAGEN. 273

had commenced. The diurnal abstinence had been succeeded
by nightly orgies, of which Ma-Tagen stiU bore the traces,
in his depressed and wrinkled appearance, his inflamed eyes,
and hoarse though powerful voice. Only one subject besides
the Prophet and the Koran interested him, and that was war
and warlike instruments. The com-ts of his palace were full
of piles of lances; the corridors, of sacks of balls, buck-shot,
and long-barrelled muskets. His armoury, which he made
us visit afterwards, still more astonished us ; for it was well
stocked with Em-opean arms — double-barrelled guns, breech-
loaders, rifled carbines, revolvers, and pistols of all kinds.
Nothing was wanting, and I even saw some things which
had not come under my eyes in Europe. MarTagen is a
powerful personage. He maintains, at Shanghai and Canton,
agents who supply him with what he wants, and does not
distress himself about the very high prices which they ask.
Owing to the state of the province, he monopolises the cus-
toms, especially those on salt; and, by a confusion easily made
between the public treasure and his private fortune, he dis-
poses of enormous sums, which pay for the luxuries of his
house. This strange man passes whole days in practising
shooting; the waUs, columns, pictures, all serve as targets
for his skill ; and I perceived that the back of the chair, on
which I was sitting, was also riddled with at least twenty
holes. The whole house is in the same condition ; and even
a servant, passing at the end of the court, has been known
to serve as a mark. Scandal accuses him of having killed
two of his children. He does not spare himself during a
fight. Being covered with wounds, he stripped himself en-
tirely, to show lis the scars, of which he is very proud. We
had not at all expected to meet, in China, a man of this dis-
position, who would have been better placed in the court of
the ancient sultans. But, however that may be, we had come
there for dinner ; and, after having fully observed the riches
of the palace, and the curiosities of the proprietor, we sat
down to our meal.

Dry seeds of the water-melon were brought -first, with
pine-apples, mandarin-oranges, in fact, a complete dessert.
Thinking we were the victims of a misunderstanding, we
resigned ourselves to seeing the dinner changed to a cok

T

274 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

lation ; but, contrary to European customs, these feasts are
always begun by dessert ; and for three hours we saw the
strangest and most delicate dishes succeed each other on
the table. The resources of earth and sea are drawn upon
by this upstart soldier ; swallows' nests, worms of eveiy
description, fish-entrails, lichens, &c., are the more simple
dishes which I have been able to remember; a number of
hashed meats afterwards made their appearance, and the
soup was served at the end of the repast. We each drank
long draughts of hot tea, tasted rice-wine, and dried our
fingers on bits of paper, which were used as napkins. Faith-
ful to the laws of the Koran, Ma-Tagen fasted whilst watch-
ing us eat. Our want of formality delighted him ; and we
quitted him, feeHng we had gained one firiend more, a pre-
cious &iend too, whichever side he chose to take.

The third personage, who might be of some use to us,
was the old ' papa,' the venerable priest, whose ambition had
unmasked itself for a moment after the assassination of the
viceroy Pan, and who, as I mentioned before, had since lived
in his yamen, amidst telescopes and maps of the world,
making believe to embrace earth and heaven in his studies.
These serious occupations did not suffice, however, to occupy
his time. Intrigue, and even petty faults, such as irrita-
bility and vanity, shone through the cracks which universal
science had made in his vast brain. We kept him waiting for
om- visit, and, had it not been for the wish to see strangers,
and display his knowledge to them, he would not have for-
given us this delay. Twice we presented ourselves at his
door, and twice he gave us to understand that he was at
prayers. Finally, impelled by the desire to know what was
the exact distance which separated the earth fi-om the sun,
or the time it would take a bird to fly fi-om Yunan-Sen to
the moon, or a cannon-ball to reach a star (for such were
the subjects on which his conversation mainly turned), he
allowed us to appear before him. His attendants, as gravely
as though they were waiting on a god, conducted us, respect-
fully, into the sanctuary, where the oracle, a short old man,
with an aquiline nose and white moustache, was enthroned.
He wore a furred bonnet on his arched forehead : his eyes
deep sunk in then- orbits, and almost lustreless, but never

A PHILOSOPHER. 275

resting, gave a kind of mechanical mobility to his austere fea-
tm-es, their Avi-inkles revealing a crowd of fantastic thoughts
as they changed each moment with the play of his counten-
ance. Tea and candied sugar were brought in on our arrival.
Om- host, having formerly visited Stamboul, after a long time
spent in Mecca, prided himself on knowing the habits of
Europeans, and desired us to sweeten our tea. This gave
the starting-point to a long geographical conversation, which
was aided by a large planisphere, over which he drew a
finger as lean as the leg of a pair of compasses, whilst his
mouth, stupid with astonishment and admiration, repeated
the different names of the foreign countries in a silly way,
Hke a docile echo. At the island of Singapore, the old 'papa'
stopped his forefinger. Having heard that at this place,
being close to the equator, the day^ remain at the same
length all the year round, he stayed there for a year to con-
vince himself of the fact, placing sun-dials and measuring
the shades. An Englishman, whom he consulted, had told
him he was an ass ; and this recollection almost suffocated
him with rage. But it was on Arabia that he expatiated
with greatest delight. This country, containing, as it does,
the birthplace and tomb of the Prophet, assumed gigantic
proportions in his eyes. He made the r sound out as he
pronounced Arrabie, Arrabie. It was a magic word, like the
' Open sesame' of Ali Baba. His familiars in the end only
pronounced the word Arabic in saluting us, and, when we
wanted some favour of this idiotic old parrot, we presented
him with an Algerian dagger, saying that it came fi"om an
Arab chief. After having thus explored the world, the shape
of which was barely distinguishable on his map, we had to
teach him how to use a telescope he had bought at Peldn,
which had cost a good deal of money, but which he did not
know how to mount. So much kindness dispersed the re-
mains of his ill temper, the clouds vanished from between
us, and it became possible for us to touch on the subject
which so enth-ely preoccupied us. The hope of seeing it
favourably looked upon had given us patience to support
the tiring chatter of a conceited fool.

Hardly had M. de Lagr^e explained the aim of our jour-
ney, and expressed our desire to visit the western portion

276 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

of Yunan, than the old papa replied : 'I can perfectly under-
stand you; you travel exclusively for your instruction, as
I used to do for my own ; but rest assured that, with the
exception of mine, all the heads in this country are too thick
for you to hope to get this fact into them. I am, however, .
able to take away any obstacles. My authority, consecrated
by a pilgrimage to holy places, is equally respected by all
Mussulmans, whether imperialists or rebels. With one word
from me, you can travel freely through the whole land ; and,
thanks to the passport in the Arabian dialect, which I will
present you with, you will be able to penetrate, if necessary,
even into Tali'*

It was possible that this old gentleman, being a braggart
by nature, exaggerated his authority. We were assured,
however, that it was very great. And, besides, he must have
felt convinced of his power, not to fear his relations with the
mutineers being noised abroad, whilst he continued to live
in a Chinese town, and to receive from the imperial govern-
ment the annual sum about of 3200Z.

' Cuncta religione moventur.' It is long since Cicero said
so, and it is true, especially, of Islam. We took these offers
of service for what they were worth, and left the yamen of
the high-priest, who. deigned personally to conduct us to the
street, an honour which he never accords even to the most
noble of his compatriots. Some few remarks on the zodiacal
signs, and observations concerning eclipses, had sufficed to
cement our friendship.

We were, therefore, on the best of terms both with the
civil, military, and religious authorities, and with the faithful
or disloyal subjects. We were able to await events, and to
make use, notwithstanding its critical position, of the re-
sources the town offered to us. These must have been very
considerable in prosperous times, for, in spite of daily panics,
we found even then, with the exception of wine, abundance
of everything at all necessary to Em-opean Hfe. Wheat-flour
is only used by the Chinese in the concoction of certain
pastry cakes ; so we baked our own bread, delighted to taste
again this precious food, which rice does not replace, after
eighteen months.

* The chief town of the rebels.

m

YUNAN-SEN. 277

The town of Yunan-Sen is built in a square, each side of
which measures about four furlongs. It is suiTounded by
Btrong walls, pierced by six gates, the four principal ones
surmounted by roofs, one above the other, like those of a pa-
goda ; the other two narrow, and not so high. I discovered,
whilst visiting one of the military posts over these gates,
two heavy iron cannon ; and it was not without some sur-
prise that I deciphered, beneath the dust which covered them,
a little bit above the touch-hole, the abridgment of that well-
known inscription, 'Jesus hominum salvator' (J.H.S.). It showed
where they had been made ; and, notwithstanding the shud-
der it gave me to see such initials engraved on cannons, I
could not help feeling a sort of patriotic pride in it. Those
Jesuits, who knew how to influence the emperor, as much by
the worth of their labours as by their virtues, were mostly
Frenchmen. Coming there for the salvation of souls, they
turned astronomers, mechanicians, teachers of geography ;
they became philosophers and men of letters, without per-
mitting science, which they illustrated by their labours, to
be ever anything more with them than a humble auxiliary to
their evangelical designs. These great apostles have succes-
sors at Yunan. This is not the place to relate, at length, the
work of the Catholic missions, and this gTave subject ought
not to be merely incidentally spoken of.*

And here I take the opportunity of thanking Father Prot-
teau, that humble priest, whose calm, absolute, and complete
self-renunciation at first confounds the mind, then enforces
admiration, when fully comprehended, and Father Fenouil,
the ardent pro-vicar, whose heart, vibrating still at the names
of mother and of country, joined so readily with ours, notwith-
standing twenty years of expatriation — ^both for the joy we
felt on seeing them, and for the services they rendered us.

A canal drawn from the great lake serves as moat aroimd
the fortifications. In the plain, outside the walls, are still to
be seen the remains of a town, equal in size to the present

* To collect various documents, corroborated by his personal recollec-
tions, as to the state of the Catholic missions in the extreme East, was the
last wish of the author. Death overtook him at the very moment when
his failing hand was beginning to compile this work, on which he would
have entered heart and soul.

278 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

one; it used to be the business quarter, and, as every one
knows, that part is the most important one of a Cliinese city.
War, by stopping all traffic, has di-iven the life out of this
exterior town, which is to-day reduced to the condition of an
immense ruined suburb.

Two small cypress-covered hills somewhat relieved the
aspect of Yunan-Sen on this side. Numerous green trees,
many brilliantly -coloured pagodas, and some yamen roofs
with turned-up corners, decorated with curious devices, rise
above the lower houses, and break the monotony of the long
straight buildings. The principal street begins at the
southern gateway, and ends not far from the first hill. It
is very broad, and lined with regular shops, whose elegant
fronts are adorned with two sign-boards, painted black, and
covered with gold characters. Other signs in the same street
are fixed between two grooved posts. In this part live the
provision-merchants, over whose heads the wind shakes a gar-
land of hams, fat fowls, and legs of mutton. The perftmiers
show in their windows eau-de-cologne and French soaps ; and
the fashion-plates, representing fi-esh Parisian faces, sufficed
to restore om* courage, and take away from the Chinese women
their last chance of winning our hearts.

The women here, indeed, look like Kving puppets dressed
up in bags of blue cotton stuff, or particoloured silk, with a
bull-dog's head plastered with rice-flour at the top, and legs
as thin as those of a peacock underneath. They were enough
to make one regi-et the stm-dy daughters of Laos. I must
also add, that if the sirens of this country do not make them-
selves more agreeable to their compatriots than they do to
foreigners, husbands must be perfectly happy in the Celestial
Empire ; they can live in peace, and allow their wives' feet,
mutilated by an unjust excess of jealous distrust, to grow
properly. This jealousy is really one of the most plausible
explanations of the odious custom, owing to which the feet
of the girls are imprisoned in bands, causing the toes to double
up, so that the big toe alone being allowed to reach its proper
size, makes it possible for the fashionable ladies to wear those
pointed shoes, which a child often could not get its feet into.

There is a great deal of poverty at Yunan-Sen. A large
number of black skinny-looking beggars, clothed, notwith-

CHINESE CORRUPTION. 279

standing the cold, merely with pieces of ragged felt, wander
about the streets, like living skeletons; imploring alms of
passers-by, or executing the most fearftd music before the
counting-houses where the merchants string their sapeques.
I have seen a whole family, composed of father, mother, and
six daughters, who had no other shelter than that of a hole
in the earth, and whose only clothing was of the paper made
from mulberry-leaves. The government, which ia time of
peace is venal and defective, is now only a heavy burden
on the people, without advantages or compensation. Even
the mandarins, placed between flight, which is ruin, and the
insurrection, by which their lives are menaced, — ^between a
river and a torrent, as a Chinese picturesquely called it, —
inspired us with pity.

In theory, the political and social organisation of the em-
pire is, in some respects, a model of democratic organisation.
Hereditary and perpetual nobility exists only in favour of the
members of the imperial family and the descendants of Con-
fucius. Contrary to western usages, a man's renown merely
reflects back on his ancestors ; so that the son of a Chinese is
not induced, as is often the case with us, to repose on his
father's laurels. Appointments are open to all ; there is only
one legal line open for obtaining honour, that of the exami-
nations, which attest the personal worth of the candidates.
Were it not that this idea is a necessary consequence of the
mere notion of justice — a notion nations, like individuals,
find deep down in their hearts — we might believe that we
had derived it from China, where the system of governing by
capacity has been carried on for centuries ; but this perfect
equality, from want of its corrective, liberty, is now more
a curse than a blessing. Officialism, that scourge of certain
European democracies, is developed, beyond measure, in
China, and the mandarins of every class constitute an essen-
tially privileged order, which, even if their intellectual apti-
tude were never at fault, is generally without that other as
needful quality, morality. This virtue, a delicate flower
which one vainly seeks in the East, only flourishes in the
light of publicity. Open day and free aii- are all it needs for
grovsrth anywhere ; and if we have seen it, even in Christian
coxmtries, almost extinguished along with political liberty.

280 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

we might well be sui-prised to see it prosper in China. The
few newspapers printed in the empire are written to deceive
public opinion, not to enlighten it; and it is not in the hollow
speculations of their atheistical philosophy, that the Chinese
AviH find a curb to their dominant passion, the love of gain.
At this time government, at its last shift, hardly troubles
itself to put its appointments up for sale ; instead of leav-
ing them to free competition, it sells its mandarin's buttons
at heavy prices ; and the one thought of the officials who buy
them is to reimbm-se themselves for the cost from their posts.
I have known a fratricide remain unpunished, because he
had silenced the accusers, or bought the judge, with money.
Father Fenouil told us, laughing, that having been worried
by quarrelsome neighbours, he put a stop to their annoyance
by threatening to load his mule with silver, and seek a man-
darin.

The old papa, having sent the precious letter, which was
to open even the gates of Tali to us, we had no reason for
lingering in Yunan-Sen. A longer stay would have exposed
us to finding ourselves, to no end, in the midst of the sack of
the town, and another still more serious consideration was,
that we should run the risk of seeing the Mussulmans invade
the country lying between the capital and the Yang-tse-
Kiang, cutting-off our march, and making a desert before us.
In fact, their advance on Kut-sing-Fou was announced. M.
de Lagr^e therefore decided to leave without delay for Tong-
Tchouan, situated at no considerable distance from the great
river; wishing to penetrate from thence into the west of
Yunan, and reach the conquered and pacific part of the coun-
try, so as to be, as soon as possible, where there were recog-
nised chiefs and a responsible government. But our cash-
box, which at our departure fi'om Saigon did not contain
naore than 25,000 francs (a thousand pounds), was nearly
exhausted, and we could not, without farther resources,
begin a long and perilous journey. The terror-stricken tra-
ders had hidden their money : nobody would have dared to
confess that he possessed even so much as 100 taels; the
viceroy declared himself unable to lend us anything. We
were obliged, therefore, to have recom-se to our friend, Ma-
Tagen. He joyfully offered us 1000, or 10,000 taels, or what-

^VE LEAVE YUNAN-SEN. 281

ever Ave wanted : money never troubled liira. M. de Lagree
accepted 700, or about 6000 francs, payable in Frencli rifles,
&c., at Sbanghai. Our creditor had no more bounds to bis
demands than to his offers, and Tsashed to obtain from us
an agreement to send him a shipload of ball cartridges !
He interrupted his game of chess to consult us on this mat-
ter; declared that we did him an injustice in offering him a
receipt for om- debt; took leave of us with the best possible
grace, and then continued his game.

On the 8th January 1868, the commission left Yunan-Sen.
Outside the suburbs, in which a crowd of petty tradesmen
swarm and crawl, the large plain ends, between uncultivated
and bare-looking hills. On the paved road, we came across
long files of animals, and little narrow carts, laden with wood,
drawn by buffaloes. The Yimanese, were they not so care-
less, might have at their doors firing sufficient for their wants ;
but they prefer to despoil the mountains of their last shrub,
and then get wood from a great distance. They also burn
anthracite; and at the village of Ta-pan-Kiao, where we first
halted, they use a species of natm-al coke.

In this district, as in that we traversed before reaching
Yunan-Sen, the ravages of the plague had succeeded those
of war. Many coffins lay vsdthout bmial on the groimd. The
Chinese think that the corpse of a victim of this strange
malady, which makes its appearance with eruptions behind
the ears, avenges itself on the living, if they commit the
imprudence of burying it. War is, by common accord, sus-
pended during the new-year festivities, by a kind of ' truce
of God;' but the brigands give no respite, and we met with
a detachment sent out to pursue them. Nothing could equal
the disorder in which these warriors marched : each one did
as he liked, and went in advance of his comrades, or after
them, in such a way, that it was impossible, unless one
stayed behind unbearably long, to avoid these wearisome
companions. Ah, what a fine thing drill is, and how fully
I now appreciated barracks and military discipline I We
reached the village of Yan-Lin at the same time as this mob
of soldiers, and had some difficulty in defending our door
against their insolent curiosity, for they seemed disposed to
make use of their ai-ms, and force our weak defences. Three

282 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

thousand men, vociferating loudly, demanded to see us dine,
and the six of us could hardly find space in the little room of
the inn. The staircase was narrow, however ; our sentry's
bayonet glittered in the darkness ; and we finished our meal
before -the three soldiers, who were needed to form the first
rank, had dared to advance against ue. The tumult having
been at length appeased, the chief of the troop hastened to
appear : he apologised, and swore that, had he been informed
before, he would have driven away the indiscreet imperti-
nent fellows from our room. The poor man trembled, lest
his men should know what he had said ; but their curiosity
seemed more excusable to us, when their captain revealed
what it was that had so much excited them. They had heard
that Europeans had an eye in the back of their beads, but
on the other nand had no joints in their legs. On what can
the first of these two popular ideas be founded ? I do not
know. As for the second, it must have been spread by a
Chinese, whose imagination had been struck by the stifiSiess
of some Englishman's way of walking.

Father Fenouil, who had accompanied us as far as Yan-
Lin, left us to return to Kut-sing-Fou, where he resided.
The emotion of this unfortunate priest, who perhaps, for the
last time, had heard France spoken of, affected us deeply, and
we set out sadly towards the north, across a vast damp plain,
shrouded in a thick fog, through which the dark forms of
the tall cypresses were barely visible. These large trees,
growing on the hill-sides, sway to and fro in a melancholy
way, and, like black curtains, conceal numerous villages, for
the most part inhabited by Mussulmans, who although still
in subjection to the emperor, spread around them such
terror, that the frightened Chinese dared not rear their pigs
except in secret, and even refused to sell us any, these
animals being considered unclean by the true beHevers.
Everywhere we met with ruined houses, and ragged, po-
verty-stricken people. One day, being compelled by fever to
walk slowly, I was following our caravan at some distance,
when one of our porters came to warn me, by striking his
neck with the back of his hand, that I was risking my life,
and then, firightened, hurried back to rejoin the column. My
beard sufficed to keep the bandits at a distance ; but what an

FEAR OF THE MUSSXJLJIANS. 283

existence for the labourers, who did not dare to go as far as
their fields I Huts, surmounted with a flag, on the roads, in
which crouched a tretabling sentinel, and at equal distances
a patrol or two, were the only protective measures taken by
the government in the vicinity of the chief towns. Labour is
impossible without security, life impossible without labour;
and that is the reason in this sad coimtry why an honest
labourer, from having a home in his village, becomes in his
turn a bandit, when the village is destroyed, and there is
nothing left of his abode but the walls.

The country was becoming desolate and wild ; and the
ruins, which are scattered over it, recalled to one's mind the
image of a past prosperity. A stiff white plant grows up to
the foot of the arid mountains : it is eaten here and there by
large flocks of sheep, who are watched over by a shepherd
clothed in a sheepskin, and his dog.

We had great trouble in finding shelter every night; the
provisions, too, began to fail, as in the worst days of our
travel in Laos; and the young Chinaman, whom, as soon
as we had halted anywhere, w^e sent out to seek for food,
often returned empty-handed. Being as much concerned
as we were in the matter, he was neither wanting in zeal nor
skill ; but, unfortunately, production was at a standstill, and
nobody would sell. The Mussulmans alone had in no way
altered their habits; but we did not venture to treat with
them. Our young purveyor, after a long march had sharp-
ened our appetites, having unknowingly addressed one of
these terrible followers of the Prophet, on discovering with
whom he was dealing, fled in the midst of the negotiation,
leaving behind him all the money he had been intrusted
with ; nor would any one of our escort consent to serve as
intermediary in this affair. Soldiers, porters, mandarins, and
interpreter, all trembled before a solitary man, who, with
folded arms and a smile on his face, rejoiced in his triumph.
At last, it being impossible to make ourselves understood,
and out of patience with his arrogance, we decided on turn-
ing him out. To that, our Annamites did not make any ob-
jection ; they had adopted oui* ways, habits, and prejudices,
even the idea of honour had come to be theirs as well. They
had rapidly passed from the respect which their nation pro-

284 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

fesses for the Chinese, to a profound, and often ill-dlsgnised,
contempt. If we, with the money we had at our disposal,
and the prestige by which we were surrounded in our capa-
city of foreign mandarins and our passports, had occasionally
to endure hunger, the fearful sufferings borne by the popu-
lation, and the extremities to which they were reduced, may
well be imagined.

When one has seen, as we have, the livid inhabitants of
a village waiting like vultures for the death of some miser-
able horse, to fight for its flesh, he is inclined, without per-
sonally knowing the fact, to believe even reports of cannibal-
ism, which it is said often occurs in times of famine. What-
ever the case may be, the Chinese government was in no
way responsible for the troubles which the poverty of the
land often caused us, since they had not engaged to pro-
vide us with provisions. The mandarins, who used so often
to send us fowls, pigs, and sheep, generally did it in the
hope of receiving some present in retm-n; it was an exchange
of friendly feeling, consecrated by usage; but our cash-box
had long been empty, and more than once unfortunate func-
tionaries, who had followed some succulent capon, sent to
our lodgings, have gone away very much disappointed at
being able to take with them only the sincere expressions
of our gratitude. There was nothing of that sort to be ex-
pected in this inhospitable region, which was a very prairie,
where poor herdsmen lived on potatoes and oats. Their
welcome, however, was cordial and sympathising ; they made
room for us at their hearths, and relit their fires with small
bricks of coal; for they could not have obtained a fagot,
had they walked for miles round.

Our demoraHsed and home-sick porters, having taken ad-
vantage of the night to make their escape, we were obliged
to procure others. Since nobody desired to let his shoul-
ders, it was not without some repugnance that we found
ourselves compelled to seize on passers-by, who murmur-
ingly obeyed, and walked along, closely followed by our
bayonets. We all felt it to be an urgent necessity that we
should speedily reach Tong-Tchouan ; and this reason was
oui- excuse — if, indeed, we needed one — for these acts of viol-
ence, which were, however, but rarely committed, and always

A DESOLATE REGION. 285

compensated for, to the satisfaction of the victims, by pecu-
niary remuneration.

In whatever direction one might choose to look, on the
people, or on the landscape, nothing was to be seen but
traces of misery or signs of barrenness. They cannot be
called houses which men construct in this region, which is
perpetually swept and parched by violent ^vinds ; they are
simply fragile huts, easily built, and as easily destroyed.
Having, at last, quitted these dismal heights, we descended,
and followed the dried-up bed of a large torrent, enclosed
by the mountains whose summits we had just trodden ; and
this led us to the village of Tay-Phou. The hotel-door was
ornamented in our honour with red paper-hangings, and
the military mandarin, who resided in this place, did his
utmost to make us forget cold, fatigue, hunger, and the
steppes. There was a fair at Tay-Phou, and the street was
crowded with men selling scented sticks, roughly-coloured
images, and dainties, which were fearful mixtures of flour,
aniseed, oil, and onions. People come from long distances
to miake thefr purchases for the new-year feast; but it is
difficult to fancy what rejoicings can be, held under mud
roofs, battered by the winds; and I wondered how a new
year can be inaugurated with joy amidst such surroundings.
We ourselves were not unmoved in the midst of these noisy
preparations.

It was the second time during our journey that we had
seen to its close one of those years which are so short, and
yet of which each of us sees so few roll by. Absence began
to weigh heavily on our minds, and the hour was not distant
when the measure of our moral torture was to be at its
height. Our health too, that blessing so necessary — we were
all, more or less, ailing — ^was beginning to be affected; and
this year, which was hailed in the streets by a tumultuous
crowd, seemed, from circumstances, to open very solemnly
for us. During our last marches, the sick had followed us
on an improvised stretcher; and M. de Lagr^e was at last
obliged to take his place there in his turn. The chief of
Tay-Phou, who had been ordered by the mandarin of Tong-
Tchouan to treat us well, took pity on our condition. He
could not quite make out how such titled mandarins as we

286 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

evidently were, could be so badly dressed, and appear so
poor ; but without waiting to discover the cause of this mys-
tery, he fulfilled in a soldier-like manner the command which
had been given him. He thought it would spare us the
fatigue of travelling on foot as far as Tong - Tchouan, if
we went in a boat; and our satisfaction equalled our sur-
prise, when he took us to the banks of the stream, down
which we were to sail. It was a thin strip of water, almost
too narrow for navigation, according to our French ideas;
but the Chinese thought differently. We all entered a flat
boat, made of long, flexible planks, which bent, but did
not break. It was pushed into the water, and we took our
departure, now floating, and then rolling over the pebbles at
the bottom, passing by rapids and cascades, till the torrent
widened and became a river. The country through which
this stream flowed excelled in ugliness any that we had seen
since we left Yunan-Sen. Monotonous mountains, and no-
thing but mountains, without a vestige of green, as bare and
red as though they had been cast out of the furnace below.
Narrow paths every here and there reach fi-om their base to
their tops, seldom winding, but commonly going straight
up, as if those who had to scale their slopes would rather
bear the fatigue of the shortest road, though it were the
hardest, and spend as short a time as possible on ground so
uninviting. Once familiarised with the incidents of a mode
of navigation which had, at first, drawn our attention firom
the landscape, the fearful aspect of the latter had, at last,
the effect of making us deeply discouraged. Never before
had we been so overcome by exterior influences.

Was it the effect of our utter weariness, or the foreboding
of a sinister presentiment? Even now, after two years, I try
in vain to explain to myself the weird impression this horri-
ble country still gives me, where everything, except the sky
and the water, was literally the colour of deep-red blood.

We had been for some time drifting along a calm, deep
stream, di-awn by two men, who walked vdth long strides
along a towing-path, when, leaving the river to our left, our
boat entered a narrow canal, which led us to the outsku-ts of
the town.

There were several bridges over the stream ; and in

TONG-TCHOUAN. 287

order to pass beneath tlie low arches, "we were compelled to
lie down at the bottom of the boat, whose patron repeated
impertm-bably in Chinese, for at least twenty times, the same
speech at every obstacle we encountered : ' There is a bridge ;
bend your noble heads, great men.' It was almost night
when we reached Tong-Tchouan. A mandarin was waiting
to lead lis into an elegant pagoda, where the thousand fan-
ciful designs of a superabundant decoration were lavished
upon the doors, ceilings, and platforms. Dragons and mon-
sters of every description, winged, rampant, and corpu-
lent, stood out from wood deeply carved, mingling their
golden heads and red tongues with the garlands of flowers
and flocks of birds. Even there, we preferred, instead of the
more spacious apartments, the small cabinets and rooms
where the air could be warmed, and the inquisitive pre-
vented from spying.

We took up our abode in a garret, formerly accessible by
a staircase, but now reached by a ladder; and there, after
having pasted paper round the windows, we made ourselves
at home amidst the old furniture and useless gods of the
pagoda — finding them a most precious resource, as they
were very dry, and the cold rendered a fire necessary.

Lean-Tagen, the governor of Fou, hastened to pay us the
first visit, notwithstanding his high rank in the miHtary hier-
archy. The following day we returned it. We had scarcely
passed the threshold of his palace, when crackers went off"
in every direction; and guards wearing on their shoulders
thickly- quilted cotton by way of cuirasses, young pages
with rattan hats whose ugly shapes seem to have been imi-
tated by Europeans, and in long dresses, the sleeves coming
over their hands, began to shout at the top of their voice. It
was a flattering reception, to show how highly they thought
of us. The master, who wore a magnificent sUk robe and
white ftir mantle, conducted us through the numerous courts
of his charming yamen, till we reached a luxuriously decor-
ated and tasteftJly furnished apartment. To see the carpets,
polished consoles, gilt lounges, lackered tables, and all those
thousand nothings which make a room agreeable, we might
have believed ourselves in a boudoir of the Chauss^e d'Antin.
This dwelling surpassed in elegance, if not in richness, even

288 TRAVELS IN liVDO-CHlNA.

that of Ma-Tagen; and as for the proprietor, although as
much of a soldier as the former, he did the honom-s^ like a
gentleman, and it certainly could not interfere with his mili-
tary endowments.

Lean-Tagen also possesses quite an arsenal of European
arms ; but, being without agents at Shanghai, he buys them
when they have already passed through the hands of several
intermediaries, and we drew back frightened at the prices
he nam.ed.

Tong-Tchouan is a middling-sized town, whose fortifica^
tions and public monuments are in good condition. It is
situated at some little distance from the Blue River, on the
commercial road leading from Sutcheou-Fou to Yunan-Sen.
Every one appears to Hve happily and peaceably there, and
the inhabitants do not seem to feel at all annoyed with their
chief, to whom the Mussulmans, being acquainted with his
weak point, have dispatched a fair negotiator, whose argu-
ments he evidently approves. I did not notice many coffin-
makers about the town, and even the few did their work very
badly.

But M. de Lagree's illness grew worse as time went on,
and the most perfect quiet had become necessary for him.
As far as he personally w^as concerned, there was only one
course to be taken ; to wait at Tong-Tchouan till he shotdd
be well enough to go on to Sutcheou-Fou, and from thence
to embark on a junk which would take him to Shanghai. He
was quite incapable of making that journey in the country
of the revolted Mussulmans, which he had meditated from
the time we were at Yunan-Sen, and which he considered as
the crowning portion of his enterprise. On the other hand,
he was not unaware of the attraction which the idea of .this
supplementary journey had for his companions. To study
the primitive civilisation which Islamism, transported so far
from its birthplace, had produced; to see the mosque side by
side with the pagoda ; and revisit the Mekong at Likiang,
where, having barely issued from Thibet, it flows at the foot
of a mountain, measuring 5000 metres in height, and near
Yong-Tchang, on the extreme frontiers of Burmah, where,
six centuries before us, the Venetian, Marco Polo, had tra-
velled ; and, finally, to reach Tali, the youthful capital of a

M. DE lagree's illness. 289

growing empire, — such was the programme which had re-
kindled our almost extinct ardom-.

M. de Lagr^e could not make up his mind to force us to
renounce this expedition solely on account of his own health.
Whilst he was still hesitating, the Chinese authorities did
then- utmost to persuade him to prevent our leaving ; and a
letter from Father Fenoml, frightened at the dangers which
he was convinced we should undergo for nothing, at the
end of a so far lucky expedition, put a dimax to the anxiety
of our unfortunate chief.

Fearing the perils which, with one accord, a hundred offi-
cious mouths warned us of; dreading them all the more, too,
because he would not be there to confront them with us;
fearing, at the same time, to impose a sacrifice on us; tor-
mented by a thousand conflicting sentiments, which revealed
his clear-sightedness and generous disposition, — ^he assembled
us all round his miserable bed, harder and not so good as
even a camp one, and then gave us liberty to decide as we
liked. Had we been able to foretell the future, and perceive
the reverse which was awaiting us at Tali, and the sorrow
we should undergo at Tong-Tchouan, perhaps our decision
would have been different ; but we were full of confidence,
and we resolved to start.

tJ

CHAPTER Vm.

THE MUSSULMAN INSURRECTION IN CHINA, AND THE KINGDOM OF

TAM.

If Europe has nothing to fear, in the future, fi-om Islamism,
banished as it is within a decrepit empire, Africa and Asia
are less fortunate. On the first of these two continents, it has
so clearly shown us its energy, that we have always owned
it by making concessions to the rebels, whom it has excited
against us. It is not only northern Africa which the Pro-
phet's standard covers with its deadly shade. It also influ-
ences most of the tribes lying in Central Africa, thus dark-
ening the veil which, in spite of heroic efforts, stiU conceals
from scientific eyes that mysterious country. The causes
which elsewhere have secured the victory of the Crescent,
have brought about the same results in distant parts of Asia.
Carried, after Mahomet's death, by warriors and by trading
Arabs, to the extremities of the old world, Islamism seduced
or vanquished a great nmnber of warlike tribes, both of the
coasts and the interior. The success it has obtained among
the Malays, those ferocious pirates, whose greed is now out-
witted by steam, can be understood ; but, not content with
bending under its yoke, the nomads and savages, the shep-
herds and pii-ates, it goes on attacking the oldest empires,
and threatening to overthrow, with its strong blast, struc-
tures which have defied centuries. So far back as the
thirteenth century, mosques rose in Bengal by the side of
Brahmin temples, Mohammedanism having taken root on the
banks of the sacred rivers of India. It has now broken out
in China, where the ancient giant is in the throes of a re-
bellion, which owes part of its strength to religious feehng.
The spectacle is not devoid of instruction.

Accustomed to profess a disdainful indifference towards
all religions aHke, the government of Pekin did not hesi-

THE REBELS. 291

tate, as we have seen, to intrust the command of the troops
sent against the rebels to a man, who could not fail to sym-
pathise with his co-religionists ; and therefore seemed to be
compelled by his faith to favom- the progress of those which
his political duty obhged him to combat : a strange error,
which, evenin Yunan, excited the cautious censure of the few
generals who still remained faithful to the emperor. These
murmurings wei-e always stifled, however, by the loud pro-
testations Mar- Tagen transmitted to the deceived court. The
Chinese talk among themselves of certain battles, where the
imperial regiments never counted a wounded man in their
rants, and fired in the air to acknowledge the good behaviour
of the enemy. They add, smiling, that a lieutenant of Ma-
Tagen, a suspicious observer, asked his chief, one day, to
exchange banners with him. The general dared not refuse,
but beat a retreat when he saw some of his guards fall round
him. But as though the eight of an inactive army, com-
manded by a generaP favouring the enemy, was not enough
to show the neglect and blunders of the imperial govern-
ment, the only man in Yunan who has prayed on the tomb of
the Prophet continues to receive an annual salary, and to
reside in a palace at Yunan-Sen, although he has been com-
promised in a former revolt. I am in a position to state that
he was not unaware of his power, and that he neither at-
tempted to conceal his relations with the western rebels, nor
his influence over the Mussulmans who still remain faithful
to the emperor. From the manner in which the latter treat
the Chinese, it is impossible not to feel assured that they are
men full of confidence in their power. They do not comprise
one-tenth of the total population of that part of Yunan which
they have vanquished ; but they are braver than their ene-

1 I miist state, however, that recent information which I have received,
does not confirm the opinion which I formed on the spot, touching the proba-
ble attitude ofMa-Tagen. Shortly after we had quitted Yunan-Sen, it was
invested by the rebel army. All the Mohammedan soldiers commanded by
Ma-Tagen went over to the enemy ; but he remained faithfully at his post,
massacred those amongst his lieutenants whose loyalty appeared doubtful,
and bravely sustained the assault with the remainder of his army. He
was wounded on the walls. Perhaps his heart has changed, as the Chinese
say; or perhaps he is jealous of the role and importance of the sultan of
Tah.

292 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

mies, and possess, besides, pride, enthusiasm, and faith. The
generals who oppose them — men -n-ithout honour or cour-
age — command a low set of fellows, whose laziness is not
quickened by any patriotic sentiment. When one thinks that
the sovereign of three hundred millions of men was unable,
at the battle of Sagawane, to oppose more than fifteen thou-
sand soldiers to the European armies who menaced his capi-
tal, one cannot feel astonished at the success gained by a
handful of rebels in the most distant province of the empire.
If they would accept, as bounds to the independent king-
dom which they aspire to found, the limits of Yunan, the
government of Pekin would act wisely, notwithstanding the
riches it contains, in renouncing a territory which so long
stood outside CJhinese unity; but it is to be feared that
they will not consent to this settlement. This revolt — and
it is that which makes it formidable — ^is condemned by its
double nature, to run its course, for those who gtiide it can-
not check it as long as there are infidels to fight. Politics
may set limits to its conquests, even beforehand, but it is
very different with religious propagandism.

Report says, in fact, that the new sultan of Tali has dis-
dainfully rejected the offers of the Chinese emperor, and
replied to his conciliatory overtures by expelling the ambas-
sadors charged with acquainting him with them. To engage
to respect the fi-ontiers of the provinces round Ytman, when
they each contain a germ of dissolution, would be to betray
the Prophet, and call down God's judgment upon them-
selves. For example, Kiouei-Tcheou is hardly less troubled
than Yunan -Sen by the insiurrection of the Miao-tse, those
bold mountaineers, ' Sons of the waste,' who, though often
beaten, are never daunted, and are always ready to shake
off the yoke which the feeble hand of the Celestial Empire
is no longer able to maintain. Setchuen itself is not fi-ee
from civil war, incessantly rekindled in that beautiful coim-
try by the Mau-seu, who were driven away less than two
centuries ago from Souitcheou-Fou, their capital, and forced
into Leanchan, a mountainous region traversed by the Blue
River.

In the prosperous times of the empire, these barbarians
lived unsubdued, protected by the fastnesses of the Hima-

THE REBELS. 293

layas, descending from time to time into the plain, and then
quickly regaining their haunts, where they divided the spoil
among them. Their audacity increases at this time in pro-
portion as the restraint is weakened, and their efforts only
too well second the designs of the Mussulmans, not to be
favoured by them. Already the Yunan Mohammedans have
availed themselves of the quarrels amongst the aboriginal
tribes, and have made use of the Minkias, as of the Lolos,
except that they have reduced and disanned these good
savages, who claimed to be treated, after the victory, as
auxiliaries, not as slaves.

It is not only from this quarter that the Mussulmans have
received an unlooked-for help. Leaving out of the question
the social war of the Taipings, which has paralysed the
strength of the empire in the south and menaced the very
existence of the monarchy, and the capture of Pekin, which
has destroyed the prestige necessary for absolute sovereigns,
it is certain that the Yunan rebels have received mate-
rial aid from their co-religionists in the northern parts, such
as the Chensi and the Kansiou, of China; besides moral
influence from their brethren in Eastern Tturkistan, who took
up arms at the same time that they did. Has the- coincidence
of these various combinations been accidental, or did it result
fi-om secret arrangement? That is a question, on which no
light has. yet been thrown, and which it would be rash to
touch upon. And yet the last hypothesis would appear to
be probable, when one knows, as I do, from unquestionable
private information, that Islamism recruits adherents even
in Thibet, mortally attacking Bouddhism in the holy city of
the Lamas. There are implacable enemies of the Christian
name, who now are exciting the popular feelings against our
missionaries, recently driven from Rounga^ by the bonzes;
whilst the Mohammedans, little by little, are acquiring real
power at Lhassa itself, adroitly making use, as circumstances
require, of violence or craft. They have frequent commu-
nication with the Yunan rebels; and the sultan of Tali dis-
tributes Arabic proclamations amongst their mountains, in
which he endeavours to explain, in mystical language, the

^ Advanced post of the Bomaa mission in Thibet, evacuated after the
murder of two French priests, assassinated by the Lamas.

294 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

real nature of the revolution which is being accomplished.
' The true God,' he says, ' will triumph over all idols, and
the kingdom of the believers will be established over the
ruins of an empire polluted by the ancient abominations of
infidels.' At what epoch was Islamism introduced into the
central empire, and what is the origin of Chinese Moham-
medanism? These are connected questions which it may
be of use to glance at briefly, without any pretension to do
more than bring the help of some information obtained on the
spot to aid the solution.

From the earliest ages, dreams have been a mea,ns often
used by the heavenly powers to communicate with men.
Fable affords us many examples; and the Bible itself, if
need be, will furnish us with others. The Chinese annals are
not devoid of marvellous tales. The emperor Ming-Ti, hav-
ing seen in his sleep a man in shining golden raiment, who
advanced towards him, in some way tmderstood — and the
fact does credit to his sagacity — that there lived in the
countries west of China an extraordinary being, more power-
ful than kings, and wiser than the most learned men. He
immediately sent for the statue of tbe unknown teacher, and
for the books containing his doctrine. The ambassadors dis-
covered in India the images and precepts of Bouddha, and
brought back these treasures; and this is how Bouddhism
entered the empire in the seventh century before om* era.
Several Mohammedans whom I have consulted ia Yunan say
that Islamism made its entry in a somewhat similar way.
Nothing is more sterile than the imagination of a barbarous
people, which creates always the same chimeras, and con-
tinually makes use of the same plagiarisms. If, instead of
shining raiment, one were to clothe the phantom in Arab
dress, and if, in place of simple curiosity, to suppose that
the emperor to whom it appeared had urgent need of help
against internal troubles and extraordinary disasters, we
should have the legendary explanation of the historical fact.
It must, thus, have been an emperor of China who, in a critical
moment, gathered round him the first Musstdmans ; and these
auxiliaries, when they had ceased to be usefuL one can readily
imagine, became dangerous ; and, in accordance with the
constant practice in the East, with masses of troublesome

LEGENDS. 295

people, would be broken lip througliout the empire, and con-
fined to distant provinces, there to multiply. The Yunan
Mussulmans have very confused ideas concerning their origin ;
but one can trace in all their versions of it, in the midst of
fables which connect them with demons, a relation which the
unhappy Chinese, however, would be very much disposed to
admit — ^vague reminiscences of assistance given to the em-
pire, and triumphs obtained over rebels — triinnphs which
were repaid by ingratitude. And these traditions are all
confirmed by history.

The Chinese have not always been a laborious and peace-
ful race, wishing to live isolated, and for itself alone, occu-
pied solely in resisting the invasion of foreign ideas, by a
desperate resistance to the influence which drags it into the
Tuuversal gravitation of nations. It has often carried its
arms far beyond its immense fi-ontiers ; and it may be said
that there is no region, throughout the continent of Asia,
whicli has not been compelled to respect its name. Under
the Thangs, it exercised paramount sway as far as Persia
and the Caspian Sea to the west, and to the Altai moun-
tains on the north. It received ambassadors firom Nepaul,
India, the Roman Empire, and protected the ting of Persia
against the Arabs, in the seventh century of our era.^ From
the eighth century it fought against the Caliphs, who com-
pletely defeated the Chinese emperor's troops, about the
same time the Moors succiunbed, at Poitiers, to Charles Mar-
tel; and yet, notwithstanding the still recent recollections
of this, in the year 757 Sout-Song, menaced by a formidable
insurrection, did not hesitate to caU upon the Mussulmans
and solicit the aid of the Caliphs against its own rebellious
subjects. Abbu-Abbas and Abou-Giafar-Almanzor, chiefs of
the family of the Abbassides, and founders of Bagdad, dis-
patched troops into China, which Father Gaubil supposes to
have been Arab bands, garrisoned on the eastern fi:ontiers
of Khorassan and Tm-kistan. These forces, combined with
the Chinese army, a troop of western Tartars, and the con-
tingent furnished by the Oigours, formed a force powerful
enough to enable Sout-Song to rout bis enemies com-

3 Klaproth, Tableaux Historiques de I'Asie.

296 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

pletely. The battle took place in Cliensi, not far from Sin-
Gan-Fou, at that time the capital of the empire. Taissoung
was obHged, like his father, to invoke the aid of foreigners,
numbers of whom, wearied with their long journey across
Asia, settled on the soil they had come to defend.

On the other hand, the Chinese had commercial relations
with the West, often represented, it is true, in their annals
as the enforced tribute of vassals to their lords, but the true
character of which cannot be questioned. Among those
nations which, from the most remote ages, sent forth their
traders into the empire, the Arabs have always had a fore-
most place, and at the very time when their co-religionists
were fighting in the north, imder the imperial standard,
they did not shrink from sacking and burning Canton, which
was even then a great commercial city, with which they
drove a rich traffic by sea. Commerce and war were thus
the two great causes which brought the Chinese and Mus-
sulmans into contact several times in those ages ; the Mussul
inroads being made at various epochs, and from different
points. This agrees both with the traditions stUl surviving
in China, though corrupted, and with the study of facts ; but
in submitting it to the reader, I can only send him to the
sources, if he is curious to learn more minutely respecting
the formidable shocks of nations of which, ancient Asia has
been the theatre, and of which Europe has often felt the
reaction.

About the thirteenth century, Mussulmans were so nu-
merous in Yunan, that Marco Polo, writing in 1295, repre-
sented the population of Yachi as being 'a mixture of idola-
trous natives, Nestorian Christians, and Saracens, or Moham-
medans.'* The city called Yachi by the illustrious traveller,
appears to be the same as Tali, which was called Y-tch6ou
by Han-Outi, who founded it, after having carried his arms
beyond the Ganges. This celebrated city, which is now
the centre of the rebellion, received the name of Yao-Tch^ou

* The learned editor of Tong-lden-kang-mou gives most curious infor-
matioii concerning the different religions practised at the court of the Tartar
Manko-Khan ; religions which Marco Polo fotind existing in the city of
Tali, but principally respecting the Christian sect founded in the fifth cen-
tury by Nestorius.

SPREAD OF ISLAMISM, 297

under the Thang dynasty, then that of Nan-tchao/ after it
had cast off the Chinese yoke; and, finally, it was called
Tali, after its capture by the grandson of Gengis-Khan.
Since that epoch, dynasties have changed in China; the
Mongols have been replaced by national sovereigns, and
these have, in their turn, been overthrown by Mantchou
Tartars ; but yet, in spite of all, the kingdom of Tali re-
mained, for six centuries, incorporated with the empire. In
1857, it again detached itself; for what motives, and under
what circumstances, I shall endeavour to explain.

The doctrines of Islamism have not been spread in China
by the preaching of a wandering apostle ; they have per-
petuated themselves among the descendants of ancient im-
migrants, settled in the Chinese Empire, without any consi-
derable aid from the conversion of those around. There is
reason to believe that the degenerate Christianity of the
Nestorians, and the modified Islamism of those whom Marco
Polo called Saracens, have been blended into one creed,
based on the dogma of the divine unity, and that this common
belief has induced amongst its disciples a scorn of atheists
and polytheists, which is easily turned to hatred. These
feelings have betrayed themselves hundreds of times, by
partial revolts, which might have sufficed to enlighten a go-
vernment less blind than that of the Chinese as to the causes
and extent of the danger.

The first disorders appear to have broken out in 1855,
among some miners, who were iU-treated by the mandarins
superintending the works. The majority belonged to the
Mohammedan religion. Exasperated by violence, and feeling
themselves strong enough, they assassinated the Chinese
officers, ani spread themselves, in armed bands, through
the country, calling upon their co-religionists to join them.
As the result of this movement, the Mussulmans grew every-
where still more insolent, refused to pay taxes, braved the
agents of the law, and showed a profound disdain for the
Chinese population. They killed all the swine in the name
of the' Prophet, and violated the young women in that of

5 The kingdom of Nantchao is one of the fonr which the CSbinese call
the scourges of the empire. It has acquired new claims to this name
SLQce the Mohammedan revolt.

298 TRAVELS IN rNDO-CHINA.

Allak They attempted, in 1856, to assassinate all the
Chinese mandarins in Tunan-Sen at once. An energetic
man, named Changsou, who had proved his valour in the
war with the Taipings in Kouang-Si, now thought the
moment had arrived to make a decisive stroke. Being the
governor of Hokin, a town situated a day's march south
of Likiang, and not far from Tali, he resolved, in concert
with the mandarin of Likiang, and another Chinese chief,
to organise, for the same day, the wholesale massacre of
Mussulmans throughout the province of Yunan. He killed,
in fact, some hundreds round the environs of Hokin — an act
of cruelty too incomplete not to be dangerous — and thus
provoked a general insurrection. By way of reprisals, the
numerous Mohammedans in Tali murdered all the Chinese
officers in that city, and prepared themselves for war. The
mandarin of Hokin came, in 1857, to besiege the place, which
is the second in importance in Yunan — ^perhaps the first, if
looked at from both a literary and commercial point of view.
He acted, in the name of the government, against rebels,
already abhorred, who had not had time to prepare, or to
procure arms, and yet he was beaten. A sortie, made by
some twenty deteiinined Mussulmans, sufficed to disperse the
besieging army, composed of outcasts more accustomed to
the fumes of opium than those of powder. The son of a horse-
dealer, poorly educated, a native of Monghoa, bearing the
name of Tou, was then proclaimed sovereign. The Moham-
medans call him Soliman; the Chinese have added to his
name the title of Uen-soai, and he governs by the aid of a
council composed of four military mandarins. The whole of
the western portion of the province has rapidly fallen under
his yoke. In the first flush of victory, his troops advanced as
far in Burmese Laos as Sien-Tong ; but, having been driven
back by the king of that country, they withdrew, as we have
seen, to the south of Yunan, towards Seumao and Poheul,
which they have taken and lost ; and they continue to hold in
check the brave governor of Lin-ngan. The Mussulmans only
kept Yunan-Sen long enough to partly destroy that large and
beautiful city." Owing their power more to their bravery

•^ As I stated in a former note, they have again invested it. This second
siege has lasted more than eighteen months. I have just heard that they

WE SET OFF. 299

than to their numbers, they reign by the terror ■which they
inspire. Report says they bury or flay alive any prisoners
who fall into their hands. Wherever they have co-religionists
they have partisans ; their enemies, struck down in the dark,
amidst their own soldiers, die either by the dagger or poison.
It was thus they got rid of their implacable adversary, the
mandarin of Hokin, who, whilst shut up at Ten-Huen-Chen,
in an intrenched camp, began to quaiTol with his generals,
whereupon the soldiery, profiting by these disputes, which
sprang from personal jealousies, disbanded; and, not very
long after, the terrible Changsou was found assassinated in
his bed.

Without enumerating in detail the efforts made by the
government ofPekinto stop the progress of the insurrection,
it may be stated that they have only served, by exposing
the powerlessness or the venality of the Chinese, to redouble
the confidence of their enemies. The military mandarins
either appropriate to themselves the money provided to raise
an army, or come to an understanding with the rebels ; as in
the case of Lean-Tagen, governor of Tong-Tchouan, whom
we visited in the month of January 1868, who fled, without
profiting by a brilliant victory he had gained, and left his
soldiers to be massacred.^

Dreading our having any communication with Mussul-
mans, who might enlighten us concerning his conduct, he
never ceased offering a desperate resistance to our joimiey
into the west ; but our determination was not to be shaken.
Sinister prophesies, and gloomy pictures, alike remained
without effect on imaginations so accustomed to such things
as ours. If we had not felt M. de Lagr^e's hand tremble in
ours as we parted from him, and had we not seen Dr. Jou-
bert, who was to remain alone with the invalid, looking pale
with apprehension, the day of our departure would have
been one of rejoicing.

have been repulsed, at last, more than thirty leagues from that capital, and
obliged to fall back on Tali. From these alternate successes and reverses,
we may infer that this portion of the empire wiU be long destined to endure
anarchy.

'' He has since been recalled from his post, had his rank taken away,
and been exiled to Setchuen.

300 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

I have already said, that, in accordance with a custom, in
•use from Cambodgia to China, foreigners are not allowed to
visit these countries, unless they have taken the precaution
to provide themselves with passports. We were ignorant,
at the time we left Saigon, of even the existence of the
growing kingdom of Tali, and had, besides, no means of
communicating with it. On the other hand, we were unable
to find among the Tong-Tchouan Chinese, a creature who
would venture to go on before us, to the Mussulmans, and
be the bearer of a letter to them. We left, therefore, some-
what at a risk, without any other guarantee than the note,
written in Arabic by the old ulema of Yunan-Sen, and not
feeling at all too confident of success. It was possible, how-
ever, that the same feeling which made the Chinese ftmction-
aries regard our journey with so much displeasure, would
secTU-e us a welcome on the part of the Mussulman authori-
ties. A handful of resolute men resisting an immense empire,
might give a good reception to the representatives of one of
those European governments, whose mighty power, height-
ened by a mist of exaggeration, is admired by the most
savage tribes; and it was not impossible that the rebels
would hasten to make fi:iends with us. The principal
events of the Chinese war are well known, in spite of official
lies, throughout the Celestial Empire ; and if some episodes
in that memorable campaign have confirmed the Chinese in
the belief that we are barbarians, we had yet given proof of
strength and bravery, two highly-esteemed qualities at Tali.
War having rendered the direct road from Tong-Tchouan to
Tali impracticable, we decided on making a circuit round
the enemy's country, before penetrating into it, and then
reaching their capital as soon as possible, by following the
frontiers of the Chinese province of Setchuen.

Our caravan, reduced to four officers* and five guards, set
out at ten o'clock in the morning of the 30th January 1868.
We again entered the valley which we had long followed
before reaching Tong-Tchouan. The mountains surrounding
it still looked red and desolate. Yet when one sees them
rising behind him, and closing the horizon, it is not with-

* MM. (Jamier, Delapoirte, Thorel, and De Came. The escort was
composed of two Tagals and three Annaraites,— in all, nine persons.

^YE BUY HORSES. 301

out a feeling of pleasure, tlie inevitable effect of distance, by
which Bcenery profits as well as men. The road, a rocky
path running either along the river or on the mountain,
was encumbered with palanquins, pedestrians, and gaily-
dressed horsemen, all in their hohday clothes. It is the
custom in China, as in Europe, to bid a welcome to the new
year. Even the horses and mules, laden with salt, are all
decorated with garlands and coloured ribbons.

We made our first halt in a village, which was being for-
tified. The inn was poor and dirty ; the beds, which need
no making, were of stone, with stone pillows. We stretched
our mats over these granite couches, for we had not hitherto
taken the plan of Chinese travellers, of carrying blankets,
mattresses, &c. on the saddles of our horses. But as M. de
Lagr^e did not allow us much time, and as it would there-
fore be necessary, if we vdshed to obtain any result without
going beyond it, to march very quickly, we decided on pro-
curing horses. Nothing can be easier in Yunan. Horses
abound in that mountainous province, which is less provided
with navigable streams than other parts of China, and where
the loads are carried either by men or horses. The latter
are ' small and stand low, but are strong and hardy.'* They
are probably, writes Marsden, of the same race as the horses
of Lower Thibet, which are brought to Hindostan for sale.
The inhabitants of Bhootan told Major Rennel that they ob-
tained their horses from a country thirty days' march from
their frontiers.^" Tardy though this help was, yet it spared
us many fatigues. From Crache" to Tong-Tchouan, M. de
Lagr^e had been obliged to keep within the straitened limits
of an insufficient purse ; and, indeed, he had suffered more
than any of us from an economy which he was obliged to
practise whilst deploring its necessity. The loan so happily
procured from Ma-Tagen placed us, as regarded financial
difficulties, in a much better position, and permitted us to
buy horses. For my part, I have preserved most pleasing
recollections of those first days, during which I advanced at
my ease, without any anxiety concerning the road, since my
horse, accustomed to guide himself, carried me with as much

* Martini. *" Marsdea's Travels of Marco Polo.

^1 Our starting-point in 1866.

302 TRAVELS IN INDOCHINA.

composure as lie had before carried bags of salt or bgjles of
cotton.

In the beginning of the month of February, the earth,
quivering with the approaching spring, still hid the germs
within it, and remained tmiformly gray. Only a rash blade,
here and there, heralded the approaching birth — the won-
drous and universal breaking out — of Hfe. Numerous fruit-
trees lined our road. They were all budding. The rising
sap bm-st through the bark, and the more forward were al-
ready in pink or white blossom. A forest of apple, apricot,
and almond trees were preparing to sprinkle with their snow
the green carpet which the growing rice would soon stretch
out at their feet. These smiling scenes, however, were soon
to be replaced by others of a totally different nature.

On reaching by an almost imperceptible ascent a more
elevated position, there rose suddenly before our eyes an
immense entanglement of gray mountains, bare, and seamed
with ravines. We saw that we were amidst the sources of
a great river, towards which an irresistible attraction was
drawing aU the torrents roaring down the gorges. A solemn
feeling seemed to announce its presence. The hand of God
appears to have surrounded the great arteries of the physical
world with impassable barriers, as it has taken care to en-
velope in shade and mystery the fountains of life within us.
We were obliged to descend slowly into the gulf by harrow
paths clinging to the mountain -sides. On one hand the
smooth wall, sometimes bending over us, rose above our
heads, passing into arching vaults like those dug by the
sea out of the cliffs ; at our feet yawned an abyss deep
enough to make one giddy. However imperfect it may be,
such a road must have taken great trouble to construct.
Opened in the calcareous rock, which forms, in a great mea-
sure, the body of the mountains, it is often so slippery as
to add another to the many peiils of the journey. Over
large spaces the declivities are too steep to hold the earth,
a,nd the rocks everywhere show themselves sharp and blue,
Hke congealed lava of a volcano which has destroyed in its
course the smallest germ of life. One feels crushed by the
immense proportions of inert natm-e, between the heights
which hang overhead and thVabysses which draw one to-

THE BLUE RIVER.

303

wardg tliem beneath. The caravans appeared in the dist-
ance like ants hm-rying home before nightfall. Horses and
badly-trained mnles, walking without due care and easily
alarmed, often roll over the precipices when they chance to
meet in perilous places. Hence, before venturing on such
passes, the mandarins send a scout ahead, to tell the traders
and merchants to stop and stand aside at certain parts
arranged for that purpose. The governor of Tong-Tchouan
had, of his own accord, and without teUing us, taken this
necessary precaution on our behalf.

Miserable habitations perched on little terraces, like eagles'
nests chnging to the rocks, shelter here and there some poor
family, which lives on the sapeque laid by each traveller,
near the bowl of cold tea which he drinks on his way. The
heat is, in fact, very great, even in the month of February.
All these stone walls, exposed to the burning rays of the sun,
which there is not a single leaf to turn aside, get heated
vfery quickly, and it becomes hard to breathe in the glowing
air of this immense fdrnace. At last, after a long and painful
march, we perceived at the bottom of the cradle, formed
for it by two steep mountains, the Yag^tse-kiang, whose
waters, notwithstanding its name of^^^^Br, are as green
as those of a calm sea in a creek.

Remembering the look of th^pl^difg, we expected to
see the Yangrtse as boiling^^^mffildy; but, on the con-
trary, it flows calmly alon^^pfis^ing with light. It was
with joy we hailed thi^^^^^srhich alone gives life to a
region where everythifl^ia'^P& ; a peaceful and rich image
of life, in the midg^^p^^hat is sterile and wild. It ap-

,tion we received, that there are

, a short distance above and

where we took a day's rest.

ons where travellers who go by

,t halt, has almost the importance

ir, it contained no functionary who

lis men to carry our baggage. We

ire some ; and for the sum of two

.times a day, we had men who walked

;need us to be constantly watching

he regular government porters often

pears, however,
rocks in the bi
below the village^
This village, one of
this route to Setchm
of a small town. H
had the power to
therefore hastened'
francs twenty
bravely, and
or urging tl

304 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

run off, wlieii they think they cau escape the penalty which
the law inflicts for doing so. Besides, one is continually
obliged to dispute with them as to 'halting-places, and the
length of the march, which we should have found impossible
to do ; for we had left Tong-Tchouan absolutely dependent
on om'selves, without any interpreter, or any one we could
trust in the midst of this unknown world.

The following day, after an hour's waiting, which I
spent on the bank, watching the Blue River as it flowed
500 leagues from its mouth, a large boat left the opposite
side, and slowly advanced towards us. Our whole caravan,
including the horses, entered it. This heavy machine, with
stems of thin trees hardly shaped, for oars, was then put in
motion, and bore us to the opposite bank of the deep river,^^
which serves as a boundary to the two most westerly pro-
vinces of the Chinese empire, Setchuen and Yunan. Then
began one of our longest and most wearisome ascents. Om'
horses entered a path which seemed barely practicable for
goats, and up this we climbed, almost in a straight line,
with the river at our feet, dotted here and there with banks
of glittering sand-g^u

Fields of sugM-oaiies formed green and regular patches
on the edges of the- river. . Manko was still to be seen im-
mediately under us ; j^at it. grew smaller and smaller, fm--
nishing in its lessening, giz^^the only proof of our advancing.
At last the road ran alo^lg^^:he crest of a side valley; the
slope became less steep; and wj? .admired, whilst pausing for
breath, the magnificent panorani-vjof jhigh mountains which
marked the course of the river be^^ScUS, We stiU obtained
occasional glimpses of it, windiagj jaiOng, Jjke a thin green
serpent with ghttering scales, gljd-iig, aad turning without
distmrbing the obstacles it could^tsdt. pass. But it was in
the morning that I liked most to^gaze on the mountains.
When the aurora, tha;t immortal jijiagician, threw its gold
and pm-ple over the bare forms ,q^ -jthese children of the
Himalayas, then- peaks, risuig little iy. little from the dark-
ness, became gradually surrounded with a glorious aureola,
and the light, peering at last through eyeryvveil, illuminated

1^ A cord, ten fathoms long, with a stone at the eiid''bf it, thrown into
the middle of the stream, did not reach the bottom. ■ ''i-~

TA-OHO. 305

the whole range at once, reflecting it in the river as in an
emerald mirror. We still kept climbing, and, having had
more than 25" of heat on the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang,
were now shivering in our cloaks, as much surprised by this
sudden change as bathers would be, plunged into vapour-
baths and then deluged with iced water.

There is something very strange about the sensation
which one feels at a great height : no sound reaches it ; the
air is rarefied, and the atmosphere seems to have attained a
sensible transparency. This calm and peaceful feeling was
in no way affected by the wild landscape beneath ; the deep
gorges, the rocks of every description heaped up aromid,
eloquent witnesses of past disturbances, — ^these things did
not matter; when one has overhead nothing but the blue
sky, he seems to participate in its high serenity. Not a
living being would willingly inhabit this chaos. I perceived,
at a great distance beneath me, a flock of yellow sheep,
driven along by a herdsman, and seeking a meagre pastur-
age of scorched-up herbs. They moved slowly amidst the
blue rocks which pierced the soil, creeping, one might say,
like the vermin on the ragged coat of a beggar. My horse,
to avoid the roughness of the path, preferred walking on
the narrow strip of green where the precipice commenced :
I allowed him to do as he liked ; he cared for existence as
much as I did, and I thought my reason was less to be trusted
than his instinct.

Ta-C!hao is a very picturesque village, with its wooden
bridge and white houses, sheltered by large trees. A little
verdure and a little commonplace landscape give so much
pleasure to the eye, after the grand sight of the wild, bare
zone through which we had passed ! We lodged in one of
the numerous inns of the village, where caravans usually stop.
Large stables shelter considerable numbers of horses and
mides. In the evening, a long fiery serpent illuminated the
mountain ravines facing us, consuming the remainder of the
small amount of vegetation which existed there. From Co-
chin-China to this place, we met everywhere with traces of
that aimless devastation, which destroys in a few hours
what it takes nature centuries to create. Winter periodically
recalls to the Chinese the necessity of keeping themselves

X

306 TRAVELS IN INDO-UHINA.

warm, and they would most probably be more careful of
their wood, if they had not, everywhere, in the countries we
visited, a combustible mineral easy to extract.

Not far from Ta-Tchao, the road agam enters the rugged
sides of the mountaias. The cold seized us as before ; and an
icy wind blew ia our faces, sweeping over the snowy crests
of the higher peaks. These peaks, which have a vegetation
peculiar to themselves, are the last refuges of certain savage
races, who are no longer met with in the plains. Clothed
in stiff plaited felt mantles, their heads covered with a high
twisted cap, these last representatives of an oppressed race
watched us pass, motionless, and crouching silently behind
the rhododendi-ons and stunted pines. They bmld their
poor villages in the hollows, and cultivate the slopes, but
the harvest is frequently carried away by the torrents of
rain to the bottom of the abyss, with the soil that grew it.
After having vanquished these unfortunates, the Chinese
insult them; horrid paintings cover the walls of their pa-
godas, representing one of these fine savages in national
costume, chained, and without arms, enduring the outrages
of a group of Chinese soldiers : a vengeance worthy of the
cowardly people who find a gratification in it.

Our baggage porters, who had come from Tong-Tchouan
to Manko by order, but had been hired from that station,
were still gay and active, notwithstanding the fearful ascents
which tried both ourselves and horses. They are wonder-
fully sure-footed, and though heavily laden, never stumbled,
even in the steep paths, the paving of which, broken con-
tinually, formed a long succession of steps and quagmires.
The inns were, for the most part, sickening dens, crowded
with travellers. In the best bedroom of one, candles were
needed in broad daylight, and the only window was over
the stables, — a narrow shed which served for both pigsty
and privy. We were more lucky in the village of Tchang-
Tchou, where we joyfully installed ourselves in rooms open-
ing on a raised gallery above an inner com-t. The troubles
and fatigues of the day were quickly forgotten in the even-
ings, where we found a good supper and good bed ; for the
rest we cared very little. At Tchang-Tchou, however, where
we arrived frozen, after a long march across the snow, we

HOELI-TCHEOU. 307

tried to make punch with the bad rum of the country. The
flame rose and flickered about at the caprice of the wind,
which penetrated through the badly-joined partitions. We
thought of the cheerful fires, with their leaping flames,
which had thrown the same short-lived light on so many
youthful scenes ; but the reality chased away such dreams.
When we came to sip the concoction, we found it as nasty
to the taste as to our sense of smell. The people outside,
seeing through the torn paper, which adorned our windows,
a man with a long reddish beard, in a room devoid of any
other light, kindling a fantastic fire, which seemed to run
over the table, took us for sorcerers about to compose a
charm, and fled in terror; and the innkeeper, wishing to
make himself agreeable towards strangers, who were versed
in occult sciences, immediately struck up the serenade with
w^hich it is the custom to honour mandarins ; an old drum
and tin pan forming the orchestra.

After leaving Tchang-Tchou, we entered a valley shut in
by mountains, which in some places pushed out great spurs,
in others sank into green lagunes. The sky was clear, and
the snow, sparkling like silver beneath the mid-day sun,
seemed to vie, in its metallic brightness, with the white
vapour of the clouds. This valley is full of villages ; the
houses are new or freshly built; and every now and then one
is reminded, by some group of buildings, of the well-cared-
for villas of our retired merchants. This part of Setchuen
seems to breathe freely, and profit by the sad condition of
the neighbouring province, depopulated by war, pestilence,
and famine.

With these consoling symptoms of calm prosperity are
combined, round Ho61i-Tcheou, signs of animation and com-
mercial activity. This village is surrounded with a strong
enclosure; bastions are being completed, and other forti-
fications are in course of erection : beyond this, the inhabit-
ants of Ho61i-Tcheou seem very little troubled by passing
events. It was more than ten days since the new year,
and they were stiU celebrating this periodical event. Arches
of triumph, in painted wood, as wide as the street, arose
at short intervals amongst the stirring crowd. The small
low houses, with wooden fayades decorated with many-

308 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

coloured lanterns, looked like hastily-constructed sheds of a
fair. An acrobat, his face hidden by a grotesque mask, was
performing on a pyramid of props; we passed by, and not-
withstanding his efforts to keep the lookers-on around him,
the whole crowd followed us, deUghted to see an exhibition
of real Europeans. It was with difficulty our horses found
room to pass up to the hotel to which we were conducted.
This estabhshment looked pleasant, and had an inviting air
of cleanliness, as delightful as it was rare. Above a long
narrow ioner court was a wooden gallery, giving access to
cells without windows, where complete darkness reigned.
It appears that the Chinese, when they travel, only stop at
a hotel to sleep, or smoke opium. In fact, I saw through
the half-open doors, by the light of the small lamp, which
an opium-smoker is never without, men lying on mats, in-
haling the white vapour, which at firet seems to exhale but
little odour, but which soon affected me so much that I have
often seemed to steal part of his drunkenness firom the
sleeping smoker.

Ho^li-Tcheou is essentially a town of transit, and it has
adapted itself to this destination. The houses are vast shops,
filled with lumps of copper and salt, bales of cotton, and cases
of medicinal plants and dye-stuffs. Whole streets are inha-
bited by makers of pack-saddles, sellers of horse-harness, and
other things necessary for caravans. The yamen of the gover-
nor, whom we visited, did not answer at all to the reputation
which this personage has earned for himself of being greedy
of gain and thoroughly extortionate. He levies a consider-
able tax on the merchants who take goods to the copper-
mines; besides taxing on his own account many other in-
dustries, to such an extent, that they have ceased to use
boats, within the limits of his circumscription, on the navi-
gable parts of the Blue River. But notwithstanding all
these extraordinary resources, his yamen is very simply
furnished. We only stayed at his dwelUng long enough to
repeat the few Chinese sentences of our vocabulary, appro-
priate to the occasion, which was quickly finished, and we
withdrew, leaving him not much enlightened as to our pro-
jects, and visibly uneasy at our resolve. In the evening a
messenger brought us a very incomprehensible letter, which

OPIUM. 309

gave some ti-ouble to the most learned of our Annamites to
translate. In this curious epistle, the governor informed
us that stars had been observed making the most curious
movements in the firmament, and that they had finally disap-
peared. Was this astronomical statement a delicate allu-
sion to our journey to Tali, the object of the special anxiety
of the Chinese authorities, and to the fate which awaited
us amongst the Mohammedans ? We never knew ; but if
this interpretation be the true one, we must confess that
the mandarin of Ho^li-Tcheou had found means to renew,
by the flattering and fanciful form he had given it, a pre-
diction often before made to us. This personage, how-
ever, treated us as mandarins, and took on himself, without
consulting us, to send away the baggage -porters whose
shoulders we had hired, replacing them, on our departure,
by government ones obtained at his command. Besides these,
we were escorted by five or six petty chiefe, who paid us
every attention, endeavouring to divine our wishes even be-
fore they were formed, and only leaving us alone when an
occasion for drinking presented itself. These men disguised
themselves very badly in their quality of spies, under the
mask of devoted servants. We had nothing to conceal, and
plainly told them that we had resolved to enter Tali, which
rendered their task much lighter.

The road continued very steep. The mountain-sides were
covered with bushes of pink camellias and rhododendrons,
remarkable for their various sizes and colours. Amongst
these latter shrubs some have red flowers, which stand out
in such contrast with the dark background of the foliage,
that the eye is quite dazzled ; others have clustering white
flowers, as exquisitely delicate as those of an azalea. In the
plains, the pale blossoms of the poppy, which is largely cul-
tivated, balance themselves on their long flexible stalks,
pleasing the eye, and impregnating the air with a strong
scent which gets into one's head. Animals even, they say,
cannot resist vertigo ; bees, for example, greedily plunder
these vegetable sirens; and when the petals have dropped off,
and man has gathered the poison for himself, the intoxicated
and blas4 bees disdain the juice of other plants, and die of in-
anition. Eats, which had taken up their abode in an opium

310 TRAVELS IX INDO-CHINA.

distillery, have been found dead in great numbers, shortly
after the closing of the estabhshment ; having been accus-
tomed to breathe the vapour exhaled from the caldrons,
they died when it failed them. Horses and pigs, which
have tasted poppies, refuse every other food, and perish
after the opium harvest, — a striking pictm-e of the perilous
'intoxications of Kfe !

* We got as far as the village of Hompousso without an
interpreter, but had been preceded by a letter from the go-
vernor of Tong-Tchouan to that of Ho^li-Tcheou, whose au-
thority reaches thus far — and in fact had only had to allow
ourselves to be transported and conducted. Here we reached
the limits of the provinces in subjection to the Chinese go-
vernment : at a few leagues from us was war, terrible and
pitiless war, especially so for the peaceful inhabitant, equally
pillaged by both armies. It was important for us not to
enter at hazard on the route which led to the capital of
the Mussulman kingdom. We had no information, and sup-
posing that a Chinese could have helped us, we should have
been unable to understand what he said.

We had been told at Yiman-Sen, that at two days' jour-
ney from Hompousso there lived a Chinese Catholic priest.
In the midst of our trouble it was an unlooked-for happi-
ness ; and nothing can explain the delight I felt on receiving
a note written in Latin, in which this unexpected interpreter
announced his arrival. It was quite like a miracle to find a
Chinese, who not only spoke a known tongue, but was, in
the nature of things, of the same ideas and opinions as
ourselves, and that in the midst of an inquisitive and male-
volent crowd, in a hamlet far away from the civilised world.
To whatever belief one may belong, this great result of
Catholicism, noiselessly obtained, in a place where there
was so little else of good, strikes the mind with admiration
and respect, when a fortuitous cfrcumstance brings it sud-
denly to light. Father Lu had barely entered our house be-
fore he was assailed with questions ; which he answered with
a very good grace, of which his timidity heightened the
charm. He consented to accompany us as far as the village
of Machan, where he resided : but he could not go farther
without interfering with the annual visit to his converts,

THE ESCAPE. 311

and compromising himself with the imperial government :
drunken Chinese had ah-eady insulted and menaced him,
because he had made himself useful to Europeans. It was
arranged that we should go in company to Machan, and
when there, with the help of Father Lu, we should choose,
among the divers routes which lead to Tali, if not the most
direct, at any rate the safest.

We again met the Yang-tse-kiang, whose waters, always
green, flowed through a less lovely country than that which
served them as frame at Manko. After a few hours' paiuful
walking on the sandy bank, we saw the great stream divide,
and found ourselves in the presence of a geographical pro-
blem, whose solution the Chinese for centuries have disputed,
without being able to come to any decision. The question
is, which ai-m — that from the north, or that from the west —
is the veritable Blue Kiver ? Science usually settles the ques-
tion in favour of the western arm,^* which bears the name of
Kin-cha-kiang (the river with the Golden Sand) ; whilst its
rival bears that of Pe-shoui-kiang (the river with the "White
Water). The name of Yang-tse-kiang is only applied, after
the confluence, to the two united streams.

On the left bank of the Kin-cha-kiang, the volume of
whose waters is much reduced above its junction, coal
abounds in many parts of the valley. We visited a pit
about two leagues from Machan. The mineral belongs to
the proprietor of the soil, who sells for 600 sapeques the
right of extracting 1000 Chinese pounds. Every one comes
to take the quantity he desires to consume, and extracts it
at his own expense. Reduced to a glutinous powder in the
shape of cakes, much employed in the native kitchen, this
coal sells for double the price of the other, 1200 sapeques, or
a half tael, the 1000 pounds. They do not trouble themselves
to push the works very far ; and, without hoUowing galle-
ries, are contented to scrape the surface of the soil. Some
of Father Lu's converts came on horseback to meet us, and
we made a solenan entry into Machan. Machan is a poor vil-
lage, which has been destroyed several times, and is often
assailed by bands of ferocious wolves, which, descending from

^^ The western arm soon turns also to the north, and after LiMang it
flows long in a parallel direction with that of the Pe-shoui-Mang.

312 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

the mountains, carry away animals and children, and often
worry even men. We rested there a day, whilst preparing
for our departure.

We were on the borders of Yong-p6. This district be-
longs to Yunan, which forms, on the left bank of the Kin-cha-
kiang, a curious enclosure in the Setchuen territory. This
country is in great measm-e peopled by turbulent savages,
who revolted in 1859 against the imperial government, and
committed the imprudence of calling the Mussulmans to their
aid, who invaded them, and imposed a new yoke, which is
harder to bear than the old one. On entering this region,
which traverses the ordinary route from Setchuen to Tali, we
should have run the risk of being stopped on our way by a
timorous chief, who lived too far from the centre of the Mo-
hammedan kingdom to enable one to appeal from his deci-
sion to that of the sultan of Tali. By offering very high
pay, we managed to collect some courageous men, who con-
sented to serve us as guides and porters. They told us of
an almost deserted route, very tedious, and destitute of re-
sources, but which, not being frequented by the soldiery, had
no other inconvenience than that of being exposed to the
inroads of brigands ; and our experience made us dread the
thieves much less than the warriors charged with watching
over them. We should have 300 kilometres to go instead of
200, which is abotit the length by way of Yong-p^. Although
they were ardently seconded by Father Lu, our efforts to find
a messenger who would be the bearer of a letter, and the
Arabic note of the papa, to Tali, remained unsuccessful.

By their perseverance, even more, perhaps, than by their
daring, the Enghsh have acquired a preponderating reputa-
tion as explorers of the globe ; and it is no little satisfaction
to succeed in any part, where they have constantly failed.
This satisfaction, which springs from a fruitful spirit of emu-
lation, and not from a feeling of petty vanity, we had already
felt at being the first to pass from Indo-China to China, and
from Laos to Yunan. Now that we are about to set foot
upon Mussulman territory, it may not be iminteresting to re-
call the obstacles before which Colonel Sarel, the chief of the
last English expedition, who, on leaving Shanghai, went up
the Blue River, deemed it necessary to withdraw. That officer

FATHER LU. 313

did not go beyond Pinshang, the extreme limit of naviga-
bility of the Yang-tse-kiang, which we have been fortunate
enough to come upon, and whose course we have followed
more than 300 miles above that point.

That this result was not without importance, one may
judge by the words of Dr. Barton, a member of the English
expedition, who, after having mentioned the reasons for
which Colonel Sarel was obliged to stop at Pinshang, con-
cludes in the following terms, in which one can trace, not-
withstanding final failure, a sort of patriotic pride : ' Thus,
after having ascended the Yang-tse-kiang for 1800 miles,
being 900 miles more than any other Evuropean, except the
Jesuits, dressed in the Chinese costume ; after having pene-
trated to the extreme western frontier of the empire (for
w^e were only a few miles from the country occupied by the
independent tribes), we found ourselves obliged to abandon
every hope of accomplishing our original plan of reaching
India by way of Thibet ; and we were compelled to retm-n
to Shanghai after an absence of five months.'" 'In fact,' said
an English wi-iter, a great admirer of Colonel Sarel's, ' this
officer did not abandon his enterprise till he had reached a
country plunged into rebellion and anarchy, which no guide
would venture to cross with him.'

However, before venturing into a country a prey to rebel-
lion and anarchy, we availed om'selves, for a day, of Father
Lu's hospitality. This young priest loaded us with delicate
attentions. He did not hesitate to deprive himself, for us,
of a bottle of port, which, except what was necessary for
the sacrament, was aU he had in his cellar, — a precious
beverage, given to him by a former bishop of Yunan, now
living on the frontiers of Thibet. The best Johannisberg or
Tokay will never have such a delicious flavour for us. Father
Lu's church is about a league from Machan. It is poor, orna-
mented with a few rough images, and serves both for draw-
ing- and dining-room, as soon as the cotton handkerchiefs
which cover the altar have been removed, after mass, by the
native sacristan. The missionary's room is close to his chmrch.

" Journal of the Royal Geographieal Society, vol. xxxii. : Notes on the
Yang -tse- Hang, from Hankow to Pinshang, by Lieutenant-colonel Sarel
aud Dr. Barton ; London, 1862.

314 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

I spent some liours, which fled only too quickly, in this mo-
dest cell, looking over his library, which was contained in a
narrow trunk, and devouring the books as I chanced upon
them. The Bible — the book of books — was the first which I
came across. These pages, impregnated, as they are, with
austere philosophy and glowing poetry, where the religious
idea, alternately soft and terrible, shows itself, on one page,
tinder the awful form of an angry God, dictating his laws
amidst storms; on another, under the features of a fair Jewess,
invoking the burning kisses of a lover; the mixture of solemn
gravity and mystic grace it contains : all this produced on
me, after such a long abstinence from moral food, an effect
which I might in vain try to describe. What vague ideas and
mysterious sensations must have passed through the brain of
a young Chinese, meditating before the image of the holy
Magdalene, after reading the Song of Solomon ! Father Lu
was not a Chinese when at coUege ; and I thought, as I looked
at his gentle countenance, that the seeds of consumption had
not been the sole causes of his pallor. The charming beings
whom he had only known by his books, could not fail some-
times, in his dreams, to become -embodied before him; and
though, from infancy, accustomed to refer everything to God,
above all, love, I suspect he sometimes wept over himself,
and honoured with a tenderness which would not, perhaps,
be supported by the analysis of a rigorous orthodoxy, those
saints of another race, who, with their fair hair and blue
eyes, no doubt appeared to him nearer the angels than
the dingy women of his adopted country. We conversed
with him in Latin, and in a Latin which must have made
Virgil and Cicero shudder in their distant graves. On the
morning of oxu- departure, this excellent missionary, become
our fi-iend so quickly, advised us to load our weapons care-
fully ; and, convinced that we were playing with our Hves,
left us with emotion, to go to the altar to implore the bene-
diction of God upon us.

We crossed the Kin - cha - kiang in small boats, which
almost overturned at the least movement made by either of
the two horses. The waters of the stream are always green,
and the banks always free from woods. The great forests
only reappear at the height of Hokin and Likiang. They

DESOLATED TERRITORY. 315

belong to the government ; but, following a custom used,
I think, in Norway, the company which fells these forests
throw the trees into a river, after having marked them
with the imperial seal, and stop iliewL -when they reach
Sonitcheou-foQ. We disembarked on Yunan territory, and
determined on taking a road, -which, perhaps, had existed
formerly ; but there was no trace of it left, and we each
made our way, as well as we could, through the briers,
climbing the rocks, and hanging on by the roots and
branches. Our baggage-porters — ^who were paid very highly,
on accoimt of the risks to which they were liable — laid
down the law to us, and demanded to halt, after a few hours'
march, in an isolated house, from which the inhabitants had
fled on our approach. On this frontier, so often crossed by
tbe Mussulman bands, peaceful folks were more timid than
elsewhere. An old woman, who had exposed herself to all
sorts of dangers rather than abandon her dwelling, at length
came out from behind a box, and, reassured by our behavi-
our, began to call her people. After an hour of persua-
sive entreaties, six robust fellows quitted the hiding-places,
where they had crouched like hares; and, each helping,
we soon had a table, benches, and beds made of planks.
The horses were placed beneath a shed; and I opened
a coffin, — a piece of furniture which had already served
me on former occasions to put my horse's forage into, — ^but
it was occupied by the proprietor. Tbe pigs lived under
the same roof as this corpse, and cooking was carried on
close by. After the harvest, when they have time to spare,
and money to spend on the ftmeral, our hosts will probably
think of burying their father.

The country was absolutely deserted ; and we journeyed
some time without meeting a single traveller. We at length
reached, not without some curiosity, the first village of the
Mussulman kingdom. It was very quiet, and did not justify
the terror of our porters. There was nothing to prevent
the insurgents from carrying their frontier as far as the
river: and yet they have left, between the Kin-cha-kiang
and their domain, a sort of neutral territory, where the red
flag of the imperial troops still floats, as a form ; but where
the fimctionaries, far from loyal to a government which had

SIC) TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

fallen of itself by the flight of the mandarins, are inhabitants
of the country, and trae chiefs of the national guard, enjoy-
ing a half independence, and exercising, without control,
the power which they have seized for themselves. It often
happens that the constituted authorities name these mili-
tary personages destined to replace them. The motive
which determined the new sultan of Tali to stop the pro-
gress of his arms was solely commercial; and it is worth
while mentioning this fact, because it throws a light on
one of the most original sides of the Chinese character. The
white flag, adopted by the rebels, might have frightened
away the traders, had it been planted on the very borders
of the river ; and it was too soon to make a change. The
Chiaese government has never tried to shut up its enemies
in those barriers, which are one of the most powerful means
used in Europe by belligerent nations for starving, or mutu-
ally impoverishing, each other. They never have blockades.
The armies fight, and travellers are stopped ; but on either
side merchandise is a surer guarantee than a passport.

Vegetation profits from the absence of man ; and the
pine-forests, burnt up elsewhere, are here healthy and green
upon the mountains. Our eyes were refireshed and glad-
dened by the sight of bushes of rhododendrons and camel-
lias, which fiourished ia the damp soil of the ravines, beneath
the shade of the trees ; they looked all the more beautiful,
because we were accustomed only to see them growing in
the narrow beds and the unwholesome atmosphere of hot-
houses.

We passed ia front of the first Mussulman custom-house,
round which several traders were assembled. A function-
ary -visited the bales, baskets, packages, and received the
sapeques. We made him imderstand that we were not
merchants, and he refrained from inspecting our baggage.
In the village of Ngadati, the population is, in great part,
formed of savages of the Lissougn race. The costume of
the women of this tribe is composed of a short petticoat,
reaching to the knees, made of hempen cloth ;i* and of a
large open bodice, trimmed, as well as the shirt, with a

^5 Hemp is not generally used, except among the savages. The Chinese
dress themselves in silk or cotton only.

A MUSSULMAN CHIEF. 317

blue border. Their headdress is a sort of elegant mantilla,
whose variegated ends fall down the back.

We were amusing ourselves with watching this interest-
ing fraction of the great human race, when firing, shouts,
and lugubrious blasts on the Chinese trumpet, announced
the arrival of the military chief of Ngadati. He was the first
Mussulman functionary we had met on our journey. He had
a free-and-easy manner, and, from a distance, appeared to
be dressed like a gentleman of the court of Louis XV. Be-
neath a sort of three-cornered hat, his long black hair fell on
both sides of his shoulders, and was only caught up near the
middle, and made into a thin short queue. The sultan, who
is not unmindful of details, has already occupied himself
about his subjects' costume. He has ordered them to wear a
queue, on the double condition that they do not shave the
front of their heads like the Chinese, and that they do not
add to their natural appendage the long silk plait, which
reaches to the feet of the dandies in the Celestial Empire.
The military chief of Ngadati seemed anxious to visit us ; he
did not ask to see our papers, and in no way tried to give us
any trouble. We had been informed that the chief of Peyouti
was the only one powerful enough to cause us any embarrass-
ment on this deserted route. We hastened to reach this vil-
lage, and encounter serious difficulties at last. We had been
warned of so many dangers, that we felt somewhat disap-
pointed at not meeting with a single obstacle. In fact, a
calm tranquillity reigned over this coimtry, accounted for
by the poverty of the district, but which we had not ex-
pected. A few merchants preceded, or followed us. They
were, for the most part, laden with salt ; a merchandise which
is the object of important, though local, commerce ; for the
Chinese law, preserved by the Mussulmans, assigns limits to
each salt-mine, outside which its products cannot be sold.
Tea, opium, metals, and medicinal plants are the only con-
siderable exports of Yunan. The prestige attached to us as
Europeans preserved us from any attempts on the part of
brigands, who are much dreaded, by solitary travellers, in
this country, which would seem to have been made on pur-
pose for ambuscades. A few signs were all that revealed
to us the existence of these invisible enemies. Cross-shaped

318 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

gallows, the moveable beam of which has an iron hook at
each end, waved then- great arms, as though calling for their
human prey. Now and then some skull reflected the rays of
the sun, like a block of rounded quartz, or marked the dark
sky with a white speck, which was not very awful-looking.
A email cold rain fell, whilst the mountains were covered
with snow, which produced on the branches of the green trees
those happy effects so often described. In this region, the only
inhabitants are herdsmen, watching their flocks, and savages,
crouching by the side of a stream, near a smoky fire, occupied
in threshing hemp. The vegetation is very healthy ; it ap-
pears, in China, to be always the opposite of the population.

A dozen mud-hnts, scattered, without order, on the top
of a mountain, and as many more houses in ruin, made up
the village of Peyouti. It has a singular appearance. The
roofs are composed of planks of wood, overlapping each other,
and kept in their places by heavy stones, in such fashion as
to give one the idea that a hailstorm of flints had fallen on
these v?retched dwellings. One often sees, even in the large
towns, the same system of roofing employed. The means
of obtaining a livelihood in Yunan are so uncertain, that the
inhabitants do not even trouble themselves to construct a
dwelling-place. The rain fell in torrents into the deserted
hut where we were lodged, in default of finding a pagoda,
or hostelryj to receive us.

As to the formidable chieftain, whose presence people,
either ill-informed, or desiring to amuse themselves at our
expense, had announced, he never appeared. We could
easily have levelled his village with the mud from which it
had been constructed. One has to ascend, for a very long
time after quitting Peyouti, and foUow the bed of a torrent,
which looks like a black winding line in the melting snow.
At the sTimmit of the ascent, the view embraces a splendid
collection of mountain-peaks, bathed in clouds, which re-
semble the v^eaths of smoke rising above a manufactory;
and these clouds shed a lurid hue over the landscape.
Numbers of peasants reside, Avith their families, on the bor-
ders of their fields, in huts formed of intertwined branches,
and await, in abject misery, peace and sunshine, or death.
They avoid the great thoroughfares as much as possible, lest

PINCHONAN. 319

the passing soldiers should carry off their scanty harvest,
and prefer the chance of being pillaged by robbers, as less
exacting and more humane. Men, at very long intervals
apart, are supposed to watch over the public safety. They
stand sentinel, trembling in miserable sentry-boxes, three or
four together, but seldom possess more than a single lance
between them.

After several days • of long marches, sometimes amidst
deep gorges, sometimes on the tops of perpendicular ravines,
through a very poor, and almost iminhabited, country, we
arrived at the extremity of a spur of the mountain, where
the view commanded a magnificent plain, such as we had
not seen since leaving imperial China. Nmnerous little groups
of houses, on whose walls we soon discovered the deadly
traces of war, appeared to be bathed in a sea of verdure.
The imperial soldiers had only recently set fire to every-
thing which the persevering proprietors had rebuilt after
a former disaster of the same kind.

We searched in succession three small towns, without
finding a single house where we could pass the night, under
shelter from the wind and snow, and, at last, only found
lodging in the fortified town of Pinchouan. It is a populous
place. The streets are filled with men, remarkable for their
costume, their long hair, marked features, and a certain
air of savage insolence, which characterises them. It was
easy at once to recognise them as Mussulmans, if only by
their haughty demeanour. One of them rudely entered our
room, while we were at our meal. Upon being desired to
leave, he replied by drawing his sword. Our Annamite ser-
geant, carried away by his courage and indignation, with-
out waiting for orders, rushed on the impudent fellow, dis-
armed him, and thrust him violently out at the door. The
military mandarin of Pinchonan came to us, on hearing of
this occurrence, and, after a fi:iendly conversation, requested
to have the letter of the * papa' read to him. ^Vhen he had
heard the praises with which the old astronomer had been
kind enough to write of us, a visible degree of respect was
joined to the cordiality with which he had, at first, treated
us. This Mussulman commandant had conceived the idea of
attracting merchants to the town, by guaranteeing to in-

320 TRAVELS I\ INDO-CHINA.

demnify them for any robberies that might be committed on
them in his territory. This measure compelled the inhabit-
ants of the villages, upon whose shoulders the payment of
the indemnity would really fall, to trace out the brigands,
and act as police.

The proud snowy peaks of the mountains, which skirt the
shores of the lake of Tali, were ah-eady visible ; the other
mountains, that were nearer to us, appeared rounder and
smaller. Small plains became more frequent, and gave in-
dications of the gi-eat plain to which we were to come. In
the plain of Pien-ho, not a single village remained standing.
The ruins, made alternately by the imperialists and by the
rebels, still serve as a precarious shelter to a large number of
families, who continue to sow, because they can gather the
harvest in six months, but who do not think it worth while
to buHd. We were conducted to the house of Father Fang,
a Chinese Catholic priest, short and thick, with a flat Tartar
face. We were ignorant of his existence, and he had not
received notice of our arrival. We took him by surprise,
whilst reading his breviary ; and it would be diffictJt to de-
scribe his astonishment. Vox faucihus hcesit; the Latin re-
mained sticking in his throat, and only eventually came out
in monosyllables, perfectly unintelligible. Recovering, at
length, from his surprise, he left his prayers, in order cor-
dially to do the honours of his house to us. Father Fang
possesses the only house in the village ; he built it himself.
He has had the opportunity of developing his talents as an
architect, for his present residence is the fourth that he has
been obliged to erect. The others had been burnt for sport
by passing soldiers. We slept in the chapel, which, as soon
as mass has been said, is devoted to common purposes.

The calendar of Father Fang informed us that it was
Shrove Tuesday. Less fortunate than the celebrated Cure
de Gresset, who was able, in three days, worthily to perform
all the duties of Carnival and Lent, we allowed the last
hours of this day, marked by so many mad pranks in Europe,
to sHp away without doing them honour of any kind. We
were as little inclined to fete the bceuf gras as to share the
doctrines of which that overfed animal seems to be the sym-
bol; for T have, in fact, always entertained the idea that

MISSIONARIES. 321

the Catholic Church ie opposed each year more and more to
the doctrine of brute force and fattened flesh. To receive
from a Chinese priest, and in the company of Chinamen,
the ashes which typify the origin, the redemption, and the
common end of humanity — what a rude lesson for the pride
which is so apt to spnng up ia the bram of every European
absent from home !

The memento homo quia pulvis es, which must, at all times,
cause us to reflect, produces thoughts still more grave and
solemn in a time of misfortune, such as has now overtaken
this country. Civil war, famine, epidemics, and emigration,
are proved, upon reliable evidence, to have reduced the popu-
lation of Yunan by more than one-hal^ in the space of ten
yeaxs. One has but to wander ever eo little fi-om the high-
ways to run up against the mutilated bones of victims of
mm'der, either unknown or unpimished. It has often hap-
pened to me to make such discoveries as would fill the im-
perial police agents in France with joy. At some miles from
the dwelling of Father Fang, in a spot separated from it by
a mountain, resides another priest, a Frenchman, who has
concealed his house in a dip of the ground, about half-way
up the hill-side. He Uves, as it were, from one day to an-
other, without having seen, for fourteen years, a single com-
patriot, adopting children, forcing himself in the midst of
danger, to sustain the sinking courage of some few Christians,
who surround him ; and endeavouring to collect about him
a sufficient number of just men to save Sodom. The details
which he gave us respecting the new Mahommedan empire,
which was then in course of formation, made us shudder
with horror; and one does not know whether to feel most
indignant against the sanguinary and lascivious tyrant, or
against the population, ten times more numerous, who bear
the ehameftd yoke, not without complaint, but without any
attempt to shake it off.

Father Leguilcher lives in complete retirement, far away
from the high-roads, holding no communication with the
Mussulman authorities, against whom he has no protection,
and who almost ignore his existence. When the sounds of
war, rising from the plain to his asylum in the mountain, be-
come too threatening, he seeks refuge in a deep cavern, a

T

322 TRAVELS IN INDO-CfflNA.

place considered holy by the Thibetians, who make pilgrim-
ages to it. Still strongly attached to France, though he has
renounced the hope of ever revisiting it, he consented, in
order to serve Frenchmen, to throw off the caution which
prudence, no less than his own tastes, had hitherto imposed
on him, and to accompany us to Tali, where we dared not
venture without an interpreter. To have penetrated, as it
were, into the suburbs of that city, without having received
any safe-conduct or authority, might appear to savotir some-
what of rashness ; but as no messenger would consent to
carry our letters, the only course open to us was to dehver
them ourselves. We had always been fortunate for two
years, and we counted on our lucky star. Father Legml-
cher had, however, a very limited confidence in the success
of our enterprise ; but if it succeeded, it would have the
advantage of giving to his position, as missionary, a sort of
official sanction, by which his Christians, the sole object of
his thoughts, might hereafter benefit. It was this consider-
ation that determinined him to share our fortune.

It was necessary to descend at hazard from the heights,
on which the French priest had concealed his dwelling, in
order to reach the level of the inhabited country; for the
capricious 2dgzags of the path, which led to the plain, had
more the appearance of being traced by the running of water
than by the feet of men. Our horses were useless to us till
we were able to regain the high-road firom Yong-Pe to Tali.
A fortress, occupied by a considerable mihtary chief, com-
mands this road. We caused ourselves to be formally an-
nounced, and entered the fort, without giving the mandarin
time for consideration. He was quite taken by surprise at
our sudden arrival; dropped his pipe of opium, and ap-
peared half-besotted as he advanced towards us, and gave
some orders to his people, who ended in blowing with all
their might into some discordant clarionets. We were loaded
with honom-s. The commandant of this fortress has not em-
braced Islamism ; he has remained mild and tolerant, like a
Chinese, and, without losiag the confidence of the sultan,
has fi-equently opposed the violence of the soldiery. A band
of these Mussulman warriors having demanded of him one
day, with a pui-pose easily surmised, to replace the men

"WE APPROACH TALI. 323

■who carried their baggage by young girls, he had them
seized and bound, and ordered that they should be smeared
all over with hog's-lard, saying, 'You desu-e to defile our
women ; you shall first be defiled by om- swine !' In spite
of all the efforts of this personage, the -villages have been
destroyed round the citadel, which was constructed to pro-
tect them, and heaps of bricks alone mark the spots which
they occupied. When night came on, we had great diffi-
culty in fielding a house standing ; it was a sorry place, dark
and uninhabited. We placed our horses in the inner court,
and lay down on the pavement by their side, redoubling our
usual vigilance. At no great distance firom us, on the hiUs,
dwelt some savages called Chasu, who from time immemorial
have plundered travellers. The peasantry pay them an an-
nual tribute, called in Chinese the robbers' rent, upon the
condition that the half of what has been taken fi-om them is
reimbursed. The cultivator does not lose anything; a hand-
some benefit is still left to the brigands, and every one is
satisfied; a curious tacit understanding, a sort of camorra
connived at by the government, and accepted by all, as a
natural servitude imposed on a certain district.

On the following day our route lay through a series of
low undulations, into a narrow and long valley, which ap-
peared to be hermetically sealed, at its farther end, by the
great chain of the Tien-song mountains. These seemed to
separate and recede as we advanced. At length we per-
ceived right before us the magnificent expanse of the moun-
tains of Tali. Their feet were bathed by the beautiful lake,
whilst their summits, crowned with snow, were lost amidst
the clouds. A large carpet of verdure was stretched at our
feet, in the midst of which groups of houses, built of red
brick, with their tiled roofs and white gables, ghttered in the
sun. Around us all was light, colour, and purity. If we had
been compelled to stop here, we could not have regretted
our long marches, our anxieties, and our fatigues. After a
first burst of admiration, criticism resumed its rights. If
this landscape was not one of the most magnificent which
could be imagined, it was entirely the fault of the Chinese,
who have not allowed a tree to remain either on the great
mountains or on the smaller hills, which would be so orna-

324 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHI.VA.

mented by shade and foliage. On the other hand, kitchen-
gardening is admu-ably understood ; we observed beans, cab-
bages, and all kinds of common vegetables ; the rice-fields
also occupied a large space. The peasant population, that
resides on the borders of the lakes, is an indigenous race,
belonging, in great part, to the Minkias. Of the five hundred
villages which once stood in this plain, scarcely two hun-
dred and fifty can now be counted, and of these only one is
inhabited exclusively by Chinese.

We passed along a paved road, on which workmen were
employed. It was the first time, since om- entry into Yu-
nan, that we had seen a road either in course of construc-
tion or repair. This road leads to a fortress, whose walls
rest against the mountains on one side, whilst on the other
they are prolonged down to the lake, so that it absolutely
closes the road. The commandant of the place informed us
that he had sent for orders to the sultan, and that we must
await the result.

These orders arrived the next day, and we felt ourselves
relieved of a heavy load of anxiety, when we heard that they
were favourable. We passed through the fortress, a regular
mouse-trap, where it would have been easy to imprison us in
a moment ; but as a mandarin had been sent firom TaK with
some soldiers to act as escort, we felt reassured, and did not
suspect that any snare was laid for us. On the other side of
the fortress the plain opened out, and was traversed by the
road, which we followed. As soon as the walls of the town,
dominated by the high mountains, appeared in the distance,
our porters were seized -with, a panic. The Christians, who
had chosen to follow Father Leguilcher, pmdently retired,
proposing to rejoin our caravan as soon as they heard what
sort of a reception we had received. Very bad reports were
brought to us : fourteen Europeans had recently been put to
death, and, according to our frightened attendants, w^e should
soon see their heads stuck on the walls. By the Chinese
all strangers are called Europeans. The men massacred by
order of the sultan were probably Burmans or Hindoos, for
their skia was nearly black. Nevertheless, we entered with-
out obstacle into this formidable city. The main street, at
first almost deserted, became filled by degrees. We ad-

THE SULTAN OF TALI. 325

vanced, closing up to each other, with eyes on the watch, and
our hands on our axms. A mandarin, magnificently dressed
and mounted on a valuable horse, cast a contemptuous glance
on our wooUen garments, shabby and without gold embroid-
ery, and our jaded thin horses : he desired us to dismount.
We were then assailed by an enormous crowd, shouting and
excited, which swarmed from all the side streets, oscillating
backwards and forwards, like the waves of the sea, and
threaterdng to crush us. The soldiers pressed upon us be-
hind, and violently tore off our hats. This insult was followed
by a brawl, in which we were compelled to use the butt-end
of our muskets ; our three Annamites and their two com-
panions used their swords bravely, till at length the man-
darin, who had at first remained passive, tardily interposed,
at the moment when a Mussulman soldier feU wounded.

This incident, which might have had such fatal results,
and of the origin of which we were ignorant, had been caused
by the curiosity of the sultan. He had been watching us
from the ramparts of the citadel, and it was to enable him
to examine at his ease our European features that our hats
had been so brutally pulled off, after we had been compelled
to dismount. He himself gave the order to conduct us out
of the town, and lodge us in a place which he pointed out.
We had scarcely been installed in our dwelling, when man-
darins came to make excuses on the part of the sultan, to
offer an audience for the next day, and regulate the ceremo-
nial, a point upon which they showed themselves very con-
ciliating. They insisted, however, on one thing — a promise
that we should present ourselves' without arms. They then
con versed respecting the purpose of our journey; but the con-
versation, in spite of the courtesy of its terms, became a
regular cross-examination. Whether the exclusively scien-
tific object of our expedition had not been sufficiently main-
tained by us, or whether their heads were too thick to be-
lieve in such disinterested motives for so toilsome an expe-
dition, as the high-priest of Yunan-Sen had predicted, it is
certain that, on the following day, we found the friendly
disposition entirely changed.

At the hour which had been fixed for the audience, a
mandarin came to inform us, that there were still some

326 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

details to be arranged; that it was necessary to liave a
clearer and more complete explanation ; and ended by say-
ing, that the sultan required to see Father Leguilcher.
After the fortunate issue of our previous negotiations, in
which we had already received proofs of the wisdom and
intelhgence of the missionary, we thought that the inter-
view with the sultan would be advantageous, and without
danger. Father Leguilcher, less confident than ourselves,
nevertheless went, like a man accustomed to face all dangers.
He retm-ned, safe and sound, after an hour's absence; but
having heard the most violent menaces uttered, first against
himself, for having introduced people of our sort into Tali ;
then against us, who had come to reconnoitre the roads, mea-
sure the distance, and to make maps of the country, with the
intention, evident, in spite of the eifrontery of our denial,
of taking possession of it. ' Go and tell,' the sultan had
added, ' go and tell these Europeans, that they may take
all the country watered by the Lant-san-Kiang (Mekong)
from the sea, as far as Ytman, but they will be obliged
to stop there. Even had they conquered the whole of
China, the invincible kingdom of Tali would still prove an
insurmountable barrier to their ambition. I have already
put many strangers to death ; these insolent fellows, who
shed the blood of one of my soldiers under my very eyes
yesterday, may expect a similar fate, if they remain longer
in my coimtry. I spare them now, because they have been
recommended to me by a man venerated by Mussulmans ;
but let them return at once to the place from whence they
came; and if they attempt to reconnoitre the river, which
flows from the lake of Tali (the Mekong), woe betide both
you and them 1'

This sovereign, who reigns by terror, lives in a state of
perpetual fear. The walls of the citadel, which is con-
structed in the centre of the town, are the strongest and
finest possible. The sultan remains shut up behind these
ramparts. Two cannon, always loaded, stand pointed at
the door of the hall of a,udience. No one, except his most
devoted servants, approaches him ; and very few of his
people even know him by sight. The suspected are sum-
moned, one by one, into this den ; and seldom return alive.

THE ESCAPE. 327

When the Christians, who had mingled with the crowd, saw
Father Leguilcher on his way to the audience, they burst
into tears, quite convinced that he was going to his death.
It was not, however, so bad as that, as we have just seen.
After the account given by the missionary, we were not only
compelled to renounce all hope of seeing the Mekong again,
but even of visiting the town; and it was necessary that we
should remain close prisoners in our dwelling, till the next
day. We loaded our arms ; for there was everything to
fear from a man so much alarmed as the sultan. After the
inexplicable change which had already taken place in his
disposition to us, we felt that we might dread, in this ec-
centric tyrant, some fresh impulse, which might materially
aggravate our position. We were, in truth, absolutely at his
mercy; and although we were quite determined to defend
ourselves, it was impossible to entertain any illusion respect-
ing the result of the contest, if it really came to that. At
night our whole house, with the exception of the portion
in which we were actually lodged, was filled with soldiers.
Our own sentinels were, in consequence, obliged to retire into
our very rooms, and under the feeling that some great cala-
mity was impending over us, we passed the night in constant
observation of the soldiers, who, on their side, were equally
watchful of our movements.

At the first glimpse of dawn our gaolers entered the
courtyard, and oflering no resistance to our departure, pre-
pared to escort us, armed to the teeth. Everything went
well till we came to the fortress, which commanded the
entrance into the plain. There the mandarin, commanding
our guard, ordered us to halt; and then qtiickly left us.
Fearing that he hacf gone to communicate with the com-
mandant of this place, and suspecting that, in order to get
rid of us, there might be an idea of imprisoning and making
away with us, we assembled all our baggage - porters, and
pushing them before our horses, we passed, at a hand-gallop,
aU the fortifications that stopped our way, in spite of the
shouts of the sentinels and the orders of their chief. For-
tunately for us they were very badly guarded ; and once out
of this dangerous spot, we had space before us, and did not
fail to profit by it.

328 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHIXA.

At ten o'clock at night, when we had taken possession
of a deserted house, easily defensible, in order to pass the
night there, a small number of soldiers asked quietly to be
allowed to enter. They came to inform Father Leguilcher
that the commandant of the fort, the very same from whom
we had had such a friendly reception three days before, re-
quired him to appear before him immediately. They were
also charged to pm'chase, in the name of the sultan of Tali,
the revolver which we had intended offering to that capri-
cious personage as a present. In spite of the urgency with
which they pressed on us this double negotiation, these in-
discreet ambassadors were conducted to the door. To com-
promise the missionary, by making our escape in the night,
would have been a want of prudence ; and to sell a weapon
to a man who had neither deserved it as a gift, nor had had
the courage to take it for himself, would have been a want
of dignity. So the soldiers left us murmuring, and we spent
the night in consolidating our barricades. These, however,
tmiied out to be unnecessary ; and this alarm was the last.
The chief of the new Mussulman empire spared us, from the
fear of provoking against himself the intervention of Eu-
ropeans ; and his fanatical subjects were kept in awe by the
secret terror with which our arms had inspu-ed them. On
returning to the hermitage of Father Leguilcher, we at once
became aware, by the consternation visible on all counten-
ances, that the news of our ill-success had preceded us.
Christians T^ere flocking to it from all parts of the mountain,
filling the chamber and the oratory, pressing round the priest,
whom they were afraid to question — silent, like persons who
felt that some great misfortune was impending. On the
following day, when Father LeguilcHer, whose life would
have been endangered by a longer stay amongst them, de-
parted with us, sobs burst forth ; men and children desired
to accompany their benefactor. As to the women, it Avas
really sad to see them, with their mutilated feet, striving to
keep pace with the horses, and bathed in tears, whilst they
]abom-ed up the steep mountain. They held by the robe of
the priest, who did not turn round, for fear of giving way.
We carried away with us the soul of this little Christian
world, surrounded by enemies on the side of Thibet, as well as

OUR RETREAT. 329

on that of Cliina, feeling that it would possibly, after oui- de-
parture, and in consequence of our imprudence, be persecuted
on account of its faith. This was a bitter thought, which,
added to the inevitable sympathy, to which all human suffer-
ing, when sincerely expressed, gives rise, drew from us the
first tears which we had shed for two years.

The mountain Li-kiang soon showed itself, with its im-
posing form, on the horizon ; it looked, in the distance, like
a huge white phantom, which appeared to guard the en-
trance to Thibet. We had set out, at first, from the low
plains which had been gained fi-om the sea by the alluvial de-
posits of the Mekong, and could, at length, gaze upon lofty
smnmite and eternal snows, and have a glimpse of that hazy
country, to which our dreams had bo often led us. But at
the same moment we lost all hope of ever being able to
penetrate it; though the serious difficulties, which now
occupied our thoughts, left us little time for regret. As
long as our journey continued to be through Mussulman
territory, it was necessary to press on, and encamp only
in safe spots, and at a distance from populous places. It
was, therefore, with great satisfaction that we, at length,
arrived at the tract which was, by common consent, consi-
dered by both belligerents to be neutral. Our itinerary, on
the return journey, was the same, with one trifling modifi-
cation, which I have described in conducting the reader to
Tali; so that I need not lose time over it. We had the
satisfaction of obtaining from the mandarin of Ho^li-Tcheou
the punishment of a soldier who had insulted Father Lu ;
and also the publication of the last imperial edict in favour
of Christians — an edict of which the population had hitherto
-been kept in ignorance.

Meantime, thanks to the missionary, who served us as
interpreter, the conversation of travellers, innkeepers, and
merchants — people who are, in all countries, curious and
talkative — was no longer a sealed book to us. Our adven-
tures were generally the chief subject of talk; and in the
accotmt of them, truth already began to give way to fiction.
We listened to these stories without taking any part in them,
and it was thus that the first pews of the invaHd of Tong-
Tchouan came, after our long absence, to grieve our hearts.

330 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

We succeeded in unravelling from the extravagant details
with which an opium-smoker embellished his nan-ative, that
an operation had been performed on M. de Lagrde. Of what
nature bad the operation been? 'WTiat had been its re-
sults? To all the questions which hurried to our lips, no
serious answer could be obtained. It was not till three days
before our arrival at Tong-Tchouan, that our apprehensions
changed to certainty. M. de Lagr^e had died on the 12th
of March 1868, of a liver-complaint, with which he had been
ill for more than sixty days. Dr. Joubert, who had, in the
highest degree, enjoyed the friendship and confidence of our
chief, came to meet us. He was himself much enfeebled by
the fever, and still suflfering from the impression made on
him by the painful duties which he had had to perform — the
post-mortem examination and burial of the corpse. M. de
Lagr^e had retained his senses to the last. The feeling of
the responsibility which rested on him never left him ; w^hen
at the point of death, his greatest grief was, to remain in
ignorance of our fe,te. This is not the place in which to
pay him, at length, the tribute of praises whicb he had so
justly earned. I will only say now, that the success of our
long journey had been his work, and that all the honour be-
longs to his memory. It remained for us to gain Shanghai.
The narrative of this rapid passage through China will be
the subject of the last portion of this work.^^

1" This voyage on the Blue Eiver can be easily followed by the help of a
map of China.

CHAPTER IX.

THE BLUE RIVER. ARRIVAL AT SHANGHAI, AND RETURN TO

SAIGON.

At Tong-Tchouan, our journey of exploration ended. Our
strength, as well as our resources, was exhausted ; and,
under the heavy blow inflicted on us by the loss of our chie:^
all our thoughts turned towards Shanghai. It was stDl ne-
cessary, however, to traverse, in order to reach that city, al-
most the whole of China, in its widest part ; but this seemed
easy to us v^th the assistance of the Yang-tse-Kiang, that
* grand chemin qui marclie! After having so long contended
against the current of the Mekong, through an unhealthy and
almost deserted country, we were, at length, to find com-
pensation for our past fatigues ; we were about to be borne
upon one of the mightiest rivers of the world, through one
of the most densely-populated countries, towards a European
city. Nevertheless, we had not yet arrived at the spot where
this great artery is continuously used by junts of large ton-
nage. Some stages still separated us from Souit-cheou-Fou,
an important town of Setchuen, where it was our intention
to embark ; and w^e were in haste, hke the Hebrew captives
of old, to commence this march towards our dehverance. But
there still remained a duty for us to perform at Tong-
Tchouan itself.

The Chinese government always avoids placing at the
head of a province any individual who has been born in
it, and consequently possesses there his family, fortime,
and interests.^ On the other hand, respect and rehgious
veneration for the dead having alone, among the educated

1 The Mantchou conquerors were the authors of this policy. They
desired to prevent the Chiaese functionaries from taking root in their
government, and thus to preclude any possibility of their creating round
themselves centres of insurrection.

332 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

classes survived the shipwreck of all other beliefs, the value
which the children of a functionary attach to the possession
of his corpse admits of easy explanation. ' A son,' says Fa-
ther Duhalde, ' would Hve without respect, especially in liis
family, if he did not cause the corpse of his father to be buried
in the tomb of his ancestors, and a place would never be
assigned to his name in the hall where they honour them.'
From this cause it is that one so often sees those solemn
funeral processions, which traverse the country, and weigh
down the population, which is compelled to offer to the living
mandarins presents worthy of the personage whose corpse
they are escorting. When we wished, in the forest of Laos,
to open the tomb of Henri Mouhot, in order to assure our-
selves that it contained his remains, it was opposed, as being
a sacrilege. In China, on the contrary, it was possible for
us to exhume the body of Commandant Lagr^e, without
doing violence to prejudices, or contravening customs ; only,
sad to relate, neither curiosity nor ill-will had been arrested
by death, and the hideous populace, without any respect for
our grie^ insulted the sailor, who was fulfilling this sad
task, and went so far as to stone the cofBn. On the spot,
where he had reposed for some days, in the garden of a
pagoda. Messieurs Joubert and Delaporte had raised, with
their own hands, a pyramid of stone, which will recall to
Europeans, who may hereafter visit this place, the recollec-
tion of one of the longest journeys that was ever made in
Asia, and also the name of the Frenchman, who died before
he could gather the fruits of the success which he had in-
sured.

We easily found a Chinese undertaker, who agreed to
convey the coflSn to Souit-cheou-Fou, and we ourselves left
Tong-Tchouan on the 7th April 1868. We were still accom-
panied by Father Leguilcher, who had been obliged, as we
have seen, to flee from a persecution which was imminent,
and was going to rejoia his bishop, on the frontier of Set-
chuen and Yunan, and seek from him an asylum and instruc-
tions how to proceed. He was good enough to supply the
want of any other interpreter ; and, thanks to him, we were
enabled to obtain information of the commercial movements
that were going on, the activity of which is testified by the

WRETCHED IXNS. 333

number of caravans which preceded us, or crossed our road.
The inns are numerous on this ft-equented route, which joins
Yunan to Setchuen by Souit-cheou-Fou ; but they are usu-
ally mere dens, where man and beast live in promiscuous
and iasupportable filth. The dungheap charms the eight of
this agricultural people, without woundirig their olfactory
nerves ; and these utilitarians think there is no use seeking
privacy to do what they regard as a beneficial and produc-
tive work. The beds fttrniehed by the innkeepers consist of
thick mattresses, upon which the traveller can place cushions.
These mattresses are not fit for use, for every traveller leaves
on them his tribute of vermin ; so that they harbour myriads
of filthy insects, and we found ourselves fi:equently obhged
to stop and have our clothes boiled, and rub our bodies
with spirit, distilled firom rice, in which tobacco had been
steeped. The greater munber of inns are kept by men, who
have come fi-om Eaangsi, the province where most of the
porcelain is manufactured, and which sends to Tunan for the
most of the salts of lead employed in the preparation of the
glazing.

The town of Tchao-Tong is the last of any importance
in the province of Yunan. Its streets are filled with mud,
blackened with coal, and unceasingly pounded by the feet
of the horses and mules of the caravans. It is populous,
though the mandarin, who visited us, evidently exaggerated
when he carried the number of inhabitants up to 80,000.
Even if this number was reduced a fiill third, a sufficiently
large field is still left for the vanity of a municipal officer.
But what appeared to be essentially wanting in the intellect
of this high functionary, was the capacity to imderstand quan-
tity : hence at the dinner to which he invited us, an incon-
ceivable number of dishes appeared upon the table. This
festival was the last to which we were invited by a Chinese;
and, as I shall not have any other opportunity of describ-
ing what is prescribed, under similar circumstances, as the
puerile but accepted code of etiquette in the Celestial Empire,
I take this one, and borrow fi-om the book of Father Du-
halde some of the formalities essential for persons of good
society when they entertain each other.

' A feast must be always preceded by three invitations,

334 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

which must be sent, in an equal number of written notes,
to the intended guests. The first invitation is sent on the
day before ; the second on the morning of the day fixed for
the repast, as a reminder, to the guests, of the invitation
that has been sent to them, and to beg them anew, not to
faQ to attend to it; finally, the third note is sent when every-
thing is ready, and the master of the house is firee to receive
his guests. This is carried by one of his servants, and ex-
presses the extreme impatience which he feels to receive his
Mends. According to the ancient customs of China, the place
of honour is given to strangers, and amongst them to the
one who comes firom the greatest distance: the master of
the house always occupying the lowest place. When the
giver of the repast introduces his guests into the dining-
hall, he salutes them in turn. He then pours some wine into
a porcelain cup, and, having bowed to the person of the
highest rank amongst them, he places it before him. The
guest replies to the civility, by gestures which he makes,
to induce the host not to give himself the trouble ; and he,
at the same time, asks for wine to be brought to him in a
cup, and taking some, steps forward, to carry it to his host,
who, in his turn, stops him by some customary words of
civility. The feast is always begun by drinking unmixed
wine. The host, with one knee on the grotmd, in a loud
voice invites all the guests to drink. Then each one takes
his cup with both hands, and raises it to his forehead;
then lowering it beneath the table, and presently carrying
it to his lips, he drinks slowly, with three or four pauses,
the host never omitting to m-ge them to empty their cups,
which he does, first of all, himself; showing the bottom
of his cup, pointing out that it is quite empty, and beg-
ging every man to do the same. At the commencement
of the second course, each guest makes his servant bring
him divers Httle red-paper bags, which contain trifling sums
of money, for the cook, the maitre-cCMUl, for the actors who
perform, and for the servants who wait at table. . . Little or
much is given, according to the rank of the person who en-
tertains you. But this present is only given when the feast
is accompanied by comic acting. The amphitryon always
makes some difficulty about accepting what is ofiered to him.

CHINESE ETIQUETTE. 335

The master of the house, on showing his guests out, never
omits to say, " We have entertained you very badly," &c.'

Everything, even to simple inclinations of the head, is
prescribed by rules, in its least details ; indeed it is aU set
out in printed instructions. The whole question of these
.rules of good breeding is elevated to the rank of a social
I science ; and at Pekin, a council of ceremonies watches over
i these grotesque customs, with as much jealous anxiety as
".is shown by a political party, in Em-ope, for the mainten-
/ance of a constitution. If one has to pay a visit to a man-
/ darin, the first step is to send him your card. This card
is a smaU. piece of red paper, on which one writes his name,
followed by some polite but empty phrase, such as : ' The
tender and sincere Mend of your lordship, and the constant
j disciple of his doctrine, presents himself in this quality,
f to pay yoTi his respects, and make a reverence, down to
i the very ground.' K the mandarin is disposed to receive
' you, he advances to meet you, and begs you to pass in first.
You answer, *I dare not;' and, after an infinity of prescribed
gestures and set phrases, the master of the house presents
the chair on which the guest is to sit, and slightly flicks it,
with a fold of his robe, to wipe off the dust. If one de-
sires to write to a person of importance, it is necessary to
use white paper, which has ten or twelve folds, like a screen.
You begin the letter on the second fold, and write your name
at the end. The smaller the writing you use, the more
respectfal it is considered. When the letter is finished, you
place it in a small paper bag, outside of which is written,
' The letter is within,' If you have papers which are to
be sent to court, you fasten a feather to the packet; and
this symbol indicates, to the messenger, that he must have
wings. We have oxrrselves received the visit of ten man-
darins at a time, and, according to custom, offered them
tea, commencing with the one of highest rank, who made
a gesture as if to offer it to the second, then to the third,
and so on to the last. Not until aU had politely refused
did he commence drinking. The second mandarin, in his
twcn, presented his cup to the eight others; and so on
through the whole number, till the last but one, who did not
fail to receive a polite refusal from the last. All this was

336 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

carried on -with imperturbable gravity ; and, to prevent our-
selves from bursting into laughter, we vrere obliged to call
to . mind the shades of language, and good manners, which
distinguish good society in Europe.

One thus sees that education, if a minute formalism be
dignified by that name, is pushed as far in China as with us.
How often must we have appeared, to these refined man-!
darins, people of coarse manners and incongruous customs ! ''
What astonishment they must have felt, for instance, when
we took off our hats to salute them, who think it an im-
pertiaence to uncover the head !^ If they had been writing
ia France respectiug us, we should certainly have had rea-
son to fear, lest they should repeat the testimony which the
Lipou, or council of ceremonies, once gave respecting the
ambassador of the Grand Duke of Muscovy. This answer,
translated, by order of the emperor, into Latin, by the mis-
sionaries ofPeMn, commenced thus : ' Legatus tuus multa fecit
rustich.'^

The country round Tchao-Tong is as much ravaged as
the rest of Yunan. A short time before our passage through
it, the Manseu hordes had come down fi:om their moim-
tains, and harried it with fire and sword, and the bands of
imperial soldiers completed its ruin. The population, still
very numerous, in spite of the calamities which decimated
it, finds shelter where it can, in mud-huts, or in caverns in
the rocks. Its misfortunes have been so great, that it sees
an enemy in every tmknown face. In an excess of zeal, the
mandarin of Tchao-Tong had given us an order to press por-
ters, who were to be changed at every -village ; but we never
found a single hamlet that was not deserted on our approach,
so that we had to make a regular man-hunt. Fearing to be
retained by force, and made furious by this apprehension, our
porters went at this odious work with the keenest ardomr.
Each one hunted for a man to take his place, and brought
him in triumph, often covered with bruises from the blows he
had received when caught.

2 To conform to this way of thinking, the missionaries have asked
leave from the Pope to use a special headdress, something like the caps of
ceremony of the mandarins, at the celehration of mass. The Thibetians
salute each other by pinching the ear and putting out the tongue.

^ Pere Duhalde.

THE ROADS. 337

The roads are well laid out and broad ; they only require
a little keeping up. Here and there a few old women give
an occasional stroke with a pickaxe, and hold out their hands
to travellers, who profit by their voluntary labour; an in-
genious pretext for begging, and also a useful protest against
the negligence of the public authorities. The greater part of
jthese roads are constructed on projecting slopes above rivers

'■and torrents, which are affluents of the Yang-tse-Kiang, and
traverse a region, upon which the troubled appearance of the
(mountains that bristle over it, gives the impress of a severe

'kind of beauty. Some of the larger villages have the arrogant
look of our old feudal fortresfees ; for example, that of Tahou-
anse, built half-way up a jagged hill, and having a large en-
trance-gate, recalls the threatening profile of a strong tower.
jEvery here and there, the heads of decapitated brigands or

Jdeserters serve as food to birds of prey. Coal is often visible

', in the gorges, and is much used ; it does not appear, however,
that any effort is made to discover the seams, or to increase

' the working of it. Those mines only, which accidental cir-
cumstances have discovered, are worked, and these are quite
sufficient for the very limited local consumption. The metals
show themselves everywhere abundant ; iron at H^-hi ; Silver
lead at Sinkaitsen, not far fi-om Tchao-Tong. I have already
mentioned this mine, which appears to be exceedingly rich.

On leaving a narrow defile, we saw the village of La-oua-
tan, which was separated from us by a rapid river. Below
the close rows of houses, ■which cover the declivities of the
mountains, there was a large number of junks in course of
building ; some lying on the sand, others firmly moored to
the bank. Thus, exactly one year after taking leave of our
canoes, and setting foot in Burmah on the banks of the Me-
kong, we again found vessels in China, upon an affluent of
the Blue River.

The vicar-apostolic of Yunan resides at Long-ki, not far
from Lo-oua-tan. The fi-iendly assistance which had been
rendered us by the priests of the mission made it our duty
to pay our respects to this old man, now approaching the ter-
mination of a long career, which persecution had several times
nearly cut short. Monsignor Poucet had arrived in China
at the close of the Restoration, and had never seen France

z

338 TRAVELS IN INDO-OHINA.

again. Since that time, he has spent his life in the mountains
of Yunan ; and it was at the summit of an ahnost inaccessible
height, that we had to seek the episcopal palace. The man-
darins, who, for a long timCj persecuted the missionaries, no
longer possess the power to protect them. At the present ';
moment, these last protect themselves against the invasions '
of the wild tribes, and sometimes even afford to Chinese, who ;
are not Christians, shelter behind their walls, which the Man-
sen do not care to approach too nearly. They are, however,
terrible enemies, these Manseu, who lie in ambush on the
borders of Setchuen and Yunan. In a single year they are
said to have reduced to slavery, or to have massacred, more
than a thousand travellers. Ferocious and intemperate,
they gorge themselves in their dens with meat and brandy,
the fruit of then- plunder; when 'they are satiated they sleep,
like boas, and soon afterwards start again on expeditions^;
Jealous of their own independence, they seek for no sup-
port outside their own tribes, and have exterminated a de-
tached band of the army of the Taipings, wdthout thinking of
forming an alliance with them against the imperialists. The
necessity of defending themselves, and especially of pro-
tecting the numerous children who come to Long-ki, and to
the college of Chen-fou-chan, to seek the instruction which
is freely given to all, has developed in some missionaries
quahties, which it is strange to find under their garb. Their
activity, then- vigilance and bravery, reminded me of those
immortal types, famished by our miUtary orders to romance
and history. The native Catholic clergy is, in part, re-
cruited from the pupils of these establishments. At Chen-
fou-chan, amongst sixteen youths admitted to, and educated
in this hospitable house, only one on an average takes orders.
The others, with hearts ediicated on pi-inciples of Christian
morality, and minds fashioned on the European model, by
the study of Latin, obtain employment in different occupations
at the missions, and, freed from the prejudices of their comi-
trymen, place themselves in connexion with strangers in the
ports which are open to European commerce.

When we had finished this last excursion, the river La-
oua-tan, ministering to our impatience, bore us along with
furious rapidity. We shot rapids, where the water, hemmed

WE ARE RUDELY TREATED. 339

fiQ by rocks, has a very visible fall. An oar fixed at the prow
of the junk serves as a rudder in these dangerous places,
where a false turn of the tiUer would cause a catastrophe.
fSoon afterwards, the river broadens out, and opposite Souit-
cheou-fou has the appearance of an arm of the sea. We
had, finally, left Yunan. On entering the territory of Set-
fihuen, we thought, that, ftirnished as we were with pass-
ports, we could count upon the mandarins for protection,
and trust to them to insTire us respect from the common
people. But from the first moment of our arrival at Souit-
cheou-fou, we had to give up this hope, and provide for our
own sectrrity. The town was ftJl of aspiiants to military
bachelorship, who, having completed their rough exercises,
before a jury of examination,, in the Champ'd« Mars, desired
to give themselves the pleasure of a siege at our expense.
The first, who attempted to enter lour domicile by force of
^rms, was a bachelor of the wat<Si,.-in6olent, and dressed in
rags. He received a sword-cut oil the head. He was a
vigorous feUow, come from Yunan to take his degrees. The
soldiers of Yunan have a great reputation at Setchuen, and
are renowned for their bravery. All the other candidates
took offence at his treatment, and prepared to avenge him.
Proclamations affixed to the walls, tumultuous meetings,
passionate harangues, nothing was omitted by these valiant
soldiers, to excite each other to the murder of five strangers.
All this hubbub, which the Christians came trembling to tell
us about (the Christians always tremble in China), lasted for
three days, at the end of which we received the excuses of
both infantry and cavahy.*

The mob remained quite indifferent to the quarrel, and
the mandarins did nothing to allay it. The police is, never-
theless, organised in all Chinese towns, and is by no means
destitute of the power of acting. There is a special ftmc-

* These bold warriors watched our departure, and when they were quite
certain that the current of the great river had decidedly carried us away,
they broke into our former dwelling, fired shots, and searched every corner
to discover where we were concealed. After this glorious expedition, of the
stirring details of which pompous announcements were made on the walls,
the soldiers scattered themselves about the town, boasting to the people that
we had disgracefully fled. These particulars reached me only quite re-
cently.

340 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

tionary for each quarter ; in every liouse the father of the
family acts. The inhabitants generally are, in part, respon-
sible for the crimes committed by their neighbours, and in
consequence take some share in watching them. Hence arise;
many violations of the sanctity of private life ; but no one!
thinks of complaining. i

At the present time, however, everything even in penal
affairs ends in China in a question of money. Whether the
culprit has incm-red the penalty of ten strokes or of death,
on most occasions a little ingenuity, and some few taels:,
enable him to get out of prison safe and sound, and be again
proclaimed an honest man. '

One of us having been insulted, one day when we w^ere out
walking, by a group of idle people, we picked out the onej
who appeared, from his dress, to be the best off, and seizing
him by his tail, whilst his companions ran away, we dragged
him through the town to the palace of the mandarin. Dui-in^
our passage to it, his relations and friends came discreetly
to offer to buy his freedom. Our compatriot might have
done a good stroke of business on that day. However, he,
preferred answering these propositions by some good strokes
of a w^hip, to which the mandarin added at once, and in
a public place, a sound bastinadoing. This took place in
Yunan, where the mihtary mandarins possess a real suprem-
acy, in consequence of the state of the province, and gener-
ally, as has been seen, gave us proofs of their favour. We
encountered, on the other hand, &om the learned officials
who governed those portions of the empire that were at
peace, a very different treatment, of which the impunity,
granted to the brawlers at Souit-cheou-fou, was a disquiet-
ing symptom. But it is easy to explain whence arose the
favour of the generals, and the hostility of the prefects.

One regrets to obsei-ve that the profession of arms is
valued too highly amongst many nations of the West, but it
is assuredly placed too low in the scale among the Chinese.
Since the Tartar invasion, the Mantchou emperors, placed on
the throne by then- soldiers, could not fail, both from pohcy
and gratitude, to endeavour to secure some prestige to the
military profession. It may be said that they have failed
against the league of the learned professions, who coalesced

THE CHINESE MILITART. 341

to maintain their privileges, and that pubHc opinion has pre-
served, on this point, its philosophical disdain and preju-
dices. To conquer its own conquerers, has been, in truth,
the great object of the Chinese, as it was that of ancient
Greece. If the eight Tartar banners assemble round them-
selves a number of soldiers, to whom one cannot refuse to
allow a certain relative value, the remainder of the Chinese
ai-my is composed of men of the lowest order, who, excepting
in courage, call to mind our old Brabant free-lances. The
officers, raised above the men, by the examinations which
they have to pass, find in these, confined as they are entu-ely
to professional subjects, but a very slight claim to public
consideration. Often of coarse manners, they have in general
a humble opinion of themselves ; having but little acquaint-
ance with the classical books, they have learnt no refinement
from the past; they are barren of knowledge, but this ignor-
ance saves them from pretentiousness. They readily recog-
nise the superiority of Europeans in the art of war, as well as
in the excellence of their arms, and perceive that they them-
selves have nothing to lose by the opening of the empire to
strangers. Thence arose that sympathy, mixed with respect,
which the military mandarins showed us. The superiority
thus so readily accorded to us by the military mandarins
has been for a long time disputed by the literary mandarins.
The authors of the imperial annals, as they successively
learnt the existence of the different nations of the world,
set them down without hesitation amongst the vassals of
their imperial master; the only exception being in favour
of the Roman empire, which they call Ta-tshin. Such pre-
sumption has had its day, and the Chinese no longer inquire
whether there are any villages in Europe ; but it cost them
a struggle to abandon errors so long cherished by the na-
tional vanity. They still clingto them as much as possible,
and they consoled themselves for the inferiority of their
armies by the conviction of the literary superiority, which
they still possess over us. They begin to feel to-day that
even this last resource threatens to fail them ; light breaks
in continually, and alarm has very nearly taken the place of
disdain in the minds of the educated classes.

Those mandarins, who have grown gray over their books.

342 TRAVELS INf INDO-CHINA.

and have nearly reached the term of a laborious career, spent
not in the acquisition of the eighty thousand characters of
their language, but in deciphering them, and themselves
painting large numbers of them (for in that consists the
whole knowledge of a learned Chinese), — foresee in European
science, ways, and writing, rivals, Avith which they decline to
contend, because they are aware that the struggle would
be fatal to them. If by any new process, means were found
to teach the pupils of our lyceums to read and understand
Chinese, as readily as they read and understand English or
Italian, how great would be the disgust of certain Chinese
linguists, who are well salaried by our learned bodies to give
instruction, which is little attended to, and as little over-
looked !

This is the cruel extremity clearly perceived in China by
those who possess the most foresight, vaguely guessed at
by others, and, not without reason, feared by all. That which
is now passing at the very door of the Celestial Empire, in a
country long attached to it by political ties, and still its tri-
butary in literature, and a slave to its pictorial writing,
has nothing reassuring in it. There is a newspaper now
printed at Saigon, which has substituted our phonetic cha-
racters for the Chinese hieroglyphics ; and the young Anna-
mites instructed in the colonial schools are enabled to read
this journal after some months of study. This reform, ef
fected without noise, contains, none the less, in spite of its
simplicity, the seed of a renaissance for this part of the ex-
treme East, no less fruitful than that which, in Europe, fol-
lowed the discovery of printing. In a country like China,
where one emperor has been seen burning the libraries, and
casting members of the learned class into the flames, another,
better inspired, may possibly be seen who will take the Euro-
pean alphabet under his protection, without permitting him-
self to be stopped by the despairing resistance of an egotistical
caste. Although this deliverance of thought does not appear
to be very near, the educated classes seem to have a pre-
sentiment of it; and, in consequence, encourage, by under-
hand means, violence against strangers in the lower orders,
who in all countries are so easily made the blind instniments
of the skilful.

SOUIT-CHEOU-FOU. 343

At Soult-cheou-fou the storm had dispersed, but not ^vith-
out giving -us a salutary lesson and a useful caution. The
anger of some, and the indiscreet curiosity of others, did not
prevent us from exploiing the town. It is admirably situ-
ated on the Blue River, at a point where the latter receives
a very considerable affluent. It is regularly built, and over-
looked by a hill, which is crowned by a pagoda. This sanc-
tuary is reached by a long flight of stau-s, of easy inclina-
tion, which our Yunan horses, accustomed to more difficult
ascents, mounted -without difficulty. The view is splendid
from this elevated spot, and we were able to enjoy it in per-
fect tranquillity, for the crowd had not followed us. I found
there, upon the altar, a statue of Fo, which was a reproduc-
tion of the features so long familiar to us in the Cambodgian
and Laotian Bouddha. This face, calm, and -with long fea-
tures, from which a sort of passive, but ecstatic and contem-
plative, expression has driven all animation, is rarely met
■with in China. Li the beginning, as we know, God made man
in his own image ; but since that time, one may say -with
truth that man has certainly done the same thing to TTim
{ on a generous scale. To speak only of the Chinese, in adopt-
', ing the great Indian ascetic, who lived on -wild herbs and
, ' roots, they have given him a monstroiis paunch, which could
have only been produced by the most substantial nourish-
ment. This belly, however, is symbolic. A people who clothe
themselves in white when in mom-ning, who get angry when
one uncovers before them, who eat their soup at the end of
\[ dinner, have a perfect right to contradict us in more im-
) portant matters, and to place the seat of intelligence else-
where than in the brain. In fact, the stomach, if not in their
thoughts, at any rate in their manner of speaking, takes the
place with the Chinese which the head holds -with us. Thus
they say: 'I keep that in my stomach;' that is to say, in
my memory. Or, again, 'This man has some stomach ;' mean-
ing that he is a man distinguished for intellect. Bouddha,
therefore, has no just ground for complaint.

Placed at the entrance to Yunan, on the confines of the
country, where the mountains become lowered in height,
and separate, in order, as it were, to give liberty to the Yang-
tse-Kiang, hitherto but a colossal torrent, to take the calmer

344 TRAVELS IN IXDO-CHI-VA.

flow of a majestic river, Souit-clieou-fou ought to have, in
times of public tranquilHty, a real commercial importance.
The junks there are very numerous, and we found but little
trouble in hiring two. The captains engaged to conduct us i
as far as Hankao without disembarkation. To install om-
selves in these floating houses, perfectly covered in, and even ;
somewhat ornamented in the interior ; to leave them only at
our will; to advance rapidly, and without fatigue; to be able
to go to sleep at Souit-cheou, and to wake up in sight of
steamers and European consulates — was, indeed, a dream to
cast all the visions of opium-smokers into the shade. It was
on the 9th of May 1868 that its realisation commenced. Fill-
ing the old office of public jester, behind the triumphal
car. Death had its place in om- midst; and the coffin of Com-
mandant Lagr^e, placed on the deck of one of the two junks,
cast a veil over our success, as well as over our joy.

On leaving Souit-cheou, the country changes completely
in character. Upon both banks of the river, towns and vil-
lages follow in quick succession: the land is everywhere
covered with crops, and not a single acre is left uncultivated.
The population, very dense, devoted to the field and garden,
patient of labour, does not neglect even those small deposits
of earth which are found among the depressions of the rocks,
and which seem to have originated in the remains of nests
belonging to birds of prey. Patches no bigger than your hand
are cultivated at all heights, and one is astonished that,
without wings, the labom-er can mount up to these aerial
domains. We passed near the town of Lou-Tcheou, which
was removed, because of a parricide committed within its
walls, to a considerable distance from its original site, which
has now become a refuge for bandits. In China this horrible
crime is looked upon as a public misfortune. Not only are
the towns which it has polluted razed to the ground, but
mandarins have been put to death for not having prevented
it. These unfortunates were accused of having, by their lax
administration, permitted the minds of the people to be per-
verted, and their hearts to become depraved. A son who
in this country raises his hand against his father does worse
than outrage nature; he shakes the whole state edifice, which
is raised on the double base of paternal authority and filial

TCHOX-KIXG. 345

submiseion ; principles, no doubt, very respectable, but which
have the gi-ave inconvenience of all principles, of being abso-
lute. Their results are, on one side, strict dependence; on
the other, unlimited and uncontrolled power — results un-
acceptable in family life, and supremely unjust in the state
adopting the doctrine, which is not less dear to the Son of
Heaven than that of divine right to our own ancient kings.

Assisted by the cvmrent, and urged on by our oarsmen,
who were ever attentive to furl or unfurl our great straw
sail, according to the direction of the breeze, we descended
so swiftly, that it was impossible to seize the details of the
vast picture which unfolded itself before our eyes. An im-
mense river, whose waters, at each instant increased by the
tribute of innumerable affluents, are ploughed by fleets of
juaks; banks at one time overlooked by rocky precipices,
at another, and more frequently, formed by the last undu-
lations of the mountains, which, as seen from the middle of
the stream, appeared scarcely to rise above its level; white
and red houses, towers, pagodas, fortified hamlets, cultivated
fields, the incessant witnesses of human activity in the midst
of a fertile landscape — made up the spectacle which we saw
constantly renewed, day after day. At night we found a
shelter in our junk, which we infinitely preferred to the inns.

Tchon-King is a large city in Setchuen, said to contain
nearly a, million of inhabitants. We could not pass by with-
out making a halt at so important a commercial centre. This
populous town is built in the form of an amphitheatre; a
happy arrangement wanting in most Chinese towns. A
large number of war-junks, decorated with the various man-
darin ensigns, were at anchor before the broad and steep
stairs, which lead from the end streets to the water-side.
They formed the noisy convoy, which was escorting the body
of the viceroy of Setchuen ; and made an unpleasant en-
counter for us, since we too were transporting a cofiin, for
which it was more difiBcult to insure respect than for our-
selves ; since the contrast between the splendid pomp of the
Chinese escort, and the indigent simplicity of our own, was
too great to escape the ill-natured acuteness of the assem-
bled crowds. Leaving four armed men on board the jmik
which contained the corpse, we succeeded, with great diffi-

341) TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

culty, in forcing our way to the nearest inn. There we pro-
ceeded to install ourselves quietlj', disregarding the clamour
and deafening noise, from the throats often thousand men, out
of doors ; and shouts, which appeared to be a confused mixture
of threats — when suddenly one of those imknown Mends,
whom the sainted labours of the missionaries have raised
up for Europeans, burst into our room. According to this
man, the mob, collected from all parts of the city, finding it
impossible to reach our junks, which were anchored some
fathoms from the shore, was preparing to stone them, and a
heavy stone, hurled by some one amongst them, had already
profaned the humble bier of the great French mandarin. Our
men in charge had replied to this aggi-ession of the mob by
presenting their firelocks at the ruffians, who had hesitated
at the sight of the pointed barrels. "Our volunteer messen-
ger said that he had left when this occurred, and that it
was high time for us to interfere.

In spite of fi-equent messages sent to them, the mandarins
persisted in not showing themselves ; so we had no hope of
help fi-om them. Meantime, the three Annamites and the
French sailor, left in the junk, might be in serious peril.
So, three of us rushed into the street, revolvers in hand.
Surprise made the mob open a passage, which was closed as
soon as we passed. The cries, hushed for a moment, were
redoubled, and pursued us to the shore. We there found
om- men, who had had the coolness not to fire, but had
courageously landed, and seized and led off a prisoner, his
hands tied behind his back, amidst the most formidable col-
lection of ruffians I have ever seen, not one among whom
had dared to attempt the rescue of their comrade fi-om three
resolute Europeans.

I may say, in passing, that this simple fact readily ex-
plained to me the meaning of the whole Chinese war. As
regards the prisoner, he was at once claimed by the prefect
of the city, who undertook to punish him. We let him go,
with a halter round his neck, quite convinced that, the mo-
ment he was out of our sight, he would be set free, and, very
possibly, rewarded. At nightfall, some sedan-chairs arrived
in fi-ont of our inn. They had been sent by the Vicar-apos-
tolic of East Setchuen, whose yamen we succeeded in reach-

• A VICAR-ATOSTOLIC. 347

ing, after passing, incognito, through the whole city. In this
vast residence, consisting, like those of the great Chinese
mandarins, of numerous buildings, separated by enormous
closed courts, we found rest, and, what had a still greater
charm in our eyes, the warmest hospitality. Beneath the
Chinese costimie. Father Favent has preserved all his natural
kindness of heart, and Monsignor Desfl^ches,^ the Bishop of
Setchuen, all the vivacity of the French intellect. We were
disposed to judge very severely of the Chinese ; and it was
with secret pleasure that we heard these two men, indulgent
as they were, draw up, in chance conversation, an act of
accusation against this hateful race.

Tchon-Eang, situated, like Souit-cheou-fou, at the junc-
tion of the river with an affluent, which is navigable for
several days' jom-ney, is a vast entrepot of all the merchan-
dise that goes up the Yang-tse-Kiang, or descends from
Setchuen to Shanghai. The mere local consumption and
production would cause a very considerable commercial move-
ment. Since the opening of the ports to Europeans, this
movement has greatly increased. The price of certain com-
modities has risen enormously,* and many of them are now
almost beyond the means of the mass of consumers. The
Chinese foresee and dread this necessary consequence of the
treaty, imposed on them by our arms. Abundantly supplied
by nature with the most various products ; feeling no wants
which they cannot liberally satisfy from their own resources ;
on the other hand, warned of the value set by European
nations on their trade, by the efforts, humble for long, but
now more and more urgent, made to secure it — the Chinese
have obstinately refused to make modifications in their com-
mercial legislation, from which they expected to realise no

* This prelate is now in Rome. He has united, vrith many of his bre-
thren, in attesting that the infallibility of a single person will be more
readily accepted by the populations he directs, than that of an assembly.
The projected definition, indeed, will not ftighten Asiatics, as any one
feels, who knows them. As to liberty of worship, we are dehghted to
believe that it will find, in the vicars-apostoUc, -vigorous defenders, well
stored with arguments, in tlie bosom of the councU.

* For instance, the oil used for varnish, and in which the tow used in
boat-building is dipped, was formerly sold at twenty sapeques the pound ;
it now costs one thousand sapeques.

348 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

profit themselves. This legislation was wholly based on a
tariff rigorously prohibitive, though not intended to protect
the national industries against foreign competition ; for this
proud race believed, a priori, that all other manufactures
must be inferior to their own. The economists of the Celes-
tial Empire entertained other apprehensions, and pursued
another aim. The emperor has always taken very seriously
his position as father and mother of his subjects. He is
bound to watch, in the private retirement of his palace, over
their well-being and repose. Not only does he, by fastings
and mortifications, take on himself a share of their suffering
when misfortimes overtake them, he is also considered to be,
in a certain degree, responsible for disasters he has been un-
able to prevent. A local famine, or even a simple scarcity,
which frequently occm-s in this vast country, where the slow
and difficult communication is farther trammelled by innu-
merable internal custom-houses, is often sufficient to raise a
revolt, unless the state intervene in time, by opening its
store granaries.

Under such conditions, supposing an emperor on the
throne of China sufficiently enlightened to understand the
advantage of reforms, he may still be excused for recoiling
from the danger of originating that transitory period of suf-
fering, which even the most legitimate economic revolutions
generally produce. To reserve the whole national produce
for home consumers ; to guarantee them from excessive dear-
ness of all articles of consumption, and, at the same time,
to preserve them from dangerous contact with Europeans —
were the chief objects of the imperial government. We know
how force has overcome these scruples, and triumphed over
resistance. Unfortunately, the first act of the struggle — the
war of 1840, which was to be concluded later imder the walls
of Pekin— was an odious attack on morality; and the old
repugnance of the Chinese to grant free access into their
ports to European vessels, was shortly justified by the forced
introduction of opium.^ From that time, the salutary law
which prohibited the culture of the poppy in the empire,

"^ In 1867, on 300 millions of francs, which represented the total im-
portations at Shanghai, opium figm-ed at 150 millions. (Report of M. Sieg-
fried to the Minister of Commerce.)

ICHANG-FOU. 349

ceased to be applied. The poison distilled from this deadly
plant mtdtiplied its ravages; and at the present day, in
certain localities of Setchuen and Yunan, the proprietors,
specidatiag on the high price of opium, have neglected the
cultivation of alimentary substances, to the great detriment
of the people,, who lie, dying of hunger, on the borders of
fields where the poppy has supplanted rice.

Leaving Tchon-King behind us, and continuing to de-
scend the river, we landed, for some hours, at the town of
Ichang-Fou. Here, barely 360 miles separated us from Han-
kao ; and we thought that, within so short a distance of the
first European estabhshments, we might display our strange
costumes and faces with impunity. We advanced, without
distrust, and unarmed, into the winding streets of the town,
but were compelled hastily to regain our junks under a
shower of stones. As soon as we had got on board, and were
in possession of our means of defence, it would have been,
assuredly, very easy for us to avenge this last insult ; but,
after accomplishing so long a journey without having the
death of a single man to weigh on our consciences, was
it not better to exercise a last effort of self-restraint, and to
avoid firing on the crowd, at the risk of killing an innocent
person? Something, however, had to be done. In spite of
the French flag, which floated at the stem of our junk ; in
spite of the lanterns* at oiir prow, large as gourds, which
they resembled in form, — we found that we must cease to
anchor in front of the large towns. Between Ichang-Fou
and Hankao, there were no departmental chief towns upon
the banks of the river, which, after passing the first of these
points, flows between the two provinces ofHonan and
of Houpe.

At some miles above I-chang-Fou, the mountains ap-
proached so closely as to form a gorge ; and, for a moment,
the river resumed the appearance which had been so familiar
to us in the defiles of Yunan. It boils up, and precipi-
tates its waters over the rocks ; amongst which our junks,
skilfully steered, descended with fearful rapidity. Below
Souit-cheou-Fou, we had passed several rapids, which are

* These lanterns were covered with characters painted in red, and
■yisible from a distance, signifying, ' Great Ambassadors of the West.'

350 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

modified and altered in position according to the season,
cTiangiag witli the level of the river, which is influenced
by the summer raius, and the melting of the snows in the
Thibet mountains. But what a difference between these
not very numerous obstacles, through which the largest
junks are without hesitation taken, and the long succession
of rapids that commences on the frontiers of Cambodgia, and
makes of the Mekong a stream with diificulty used, even by
canoes! Steam navigation — which, according to treaties,
ceases at present at Hankao — is certain, some day, to break
these bounds ; and the existence of numberless coal-deposits
in the basin of the Yang-tse-Kiang, and even on its very
banks, makes its extension still more certain. In default
of Europeans, the Chinese themselves will be, doubtless,
tempted to employ, on the Blue River, this means of trans-
port ; the quickness of which they have learned to appreciate
in the passage from Hankao to Shanghai, a passage which
they make in large numbers on board the American steamers.
In what degree will the rapids, scattered at considerable
intervals from I-chang-Fou to Souit-cheou, be an obstacle to
the development of this navigation ? This is a question
beyond my personal competence to answer; and I should
not have touched upon it, if I had not had sailors as col-
leagues, whose opinions agreed with that given by Captain
Blakiston and his companions in 1861.^ According to this
double authority, it is only by adopting a particular form
of construction that steamboats cotdd ascend the Blue River
without danger, from the rapids of I-chang-Fou, as far as
the fi-ontiers of Yunan ; and farther, it is possible that, in
some spots, it might be always necessary to have recourse to
towing and cables. This operation, which, however, it would
not be necessary to repeat often, would be a trifling incon-
venience, in comparison with the immense advantages which
would be obtaiaed, both in a political and commercial point
of view, by the establishment of a service of steamboats
upon a liver which traverses China from one extremity to
the other, and whose current is, at the present time, with
diificulty ascended by junks. When the wind renders sailing
impossible, it is by the sheer force of their arms that the
^ Five Months on the Yang-tse, by Thomas Blaljiston; London.

HANKAO. 351

Chinese go up the stream; they row standing, and keep
stroke to a regular cadenced song. Our crew, more for-
tunate, had only very trifling labour ; they husbanded their
strength for the retm-n journey. We were, in fact, approach-
ing our destination; palaces on the banks and palaces on the
water, consulates and steamers — for these our eyes, wearied
with Chinese eights, were longing ; and these they at length
perceived, when we cast anchor before Hankao.

This town, situated on the left bank of the Yang-tse-
Kiang, and of a considerable stream called the Han, flowing
into it, is, in some sort, the third quarter of an immense
city, of which the two other parts, erected on the opposite

I banks of the same streams, are called Hanyan andVouchang.
The Abb6 Hue estimated at eight miUions the population,
packed in these three towns ; which are, he says, ' as it were,
the heart, which communicates to the whole of China its
prodigious commercial activity.' On the first point, the
exaggeration is manifest ; although the disasters, which
have fallen on this portion of the empire, have produced an
enormous decrease in the population since the travels of the
Lazarist missionary. At present, it does not amount to two
miUions; and, terrible as may have been the Taipings, it
cannot be credited that they have, in so short a space of
time, destroyed six miUions of men.

As regards the importance of these places in a com-
mercial point of view, it has increased, though in some
degree it has been modified, since the time of the Abbe
Hue. It is here that European commerce, having at length
succeeded in its struggle for freedom, has planted its flag,
until the time comes when firesh concessions open the other
ports of the Blue River to the enterprising ardour of western

■ merchants. It is not necessary to dilate on the subject ;
France retains distinguished agents at Hankao, as well as
at Shanghai, who watch with constant solicitude over her
interests, and furnish her with every useful information.

Our mission was accomplished ; and I, for my part,
neither felt courage to take notes, nor to interrogate M.
Gueneau, the acting consul, or the other Frenchmen, whom
we met at his table, respecting China. Besides, in order to
satisfy om- hosts, we had to answer their questions. The

352 TRAA'ELS IN IXDO-CHINA.

commandant of the Englisli gunboat, stationed at Hankao,
not satisfied by verbal accounts of our adventures, insisted
on our donning our costume as travellers in the Laotian
forests — a costume, by the bye, which pretty much consisted
in wearing nothing at all — and he wanted to photograph us
in this simple attire. After having so long been an object
of curiosity to the Chinese, we were now threatened with
the same fate amongst civilised people. I must not, how-
ever, omit to say, that the courteous reception which we met
with upon this occasion, made the curiosity more than par-
donable.

It is easy to understand with what eagerness the intrepid
merchants, who have pitched their tents at 200 leagues from
the sea, on the extreme frontier of the China which is open
by treaty, scan the western horizon. We too were most
anxious for news. The last courier who had reached us in
the forests of Laos, and the first scrap of a newspaper which
had rejoiced our eyes in the house of a missionary in Yunan,
had acquainted us, the one with the catastrophe of Sadowa,
the other with the sad tragedy of Queretaro. These two
thunderclaps, followed by a long silence, had shaken our
courage. Wounded on both continents, would France re-
tain the wish, still more, would she possess the strength, to
play a part in the extreme East ? Would not om- enterprise,
begun under happier auspices, become a useless exploration,
— a work barren in results for our country, and from which
others would reap the benefit? Thanks be to God, the
first hour of om* stay at Hankao dissipated these apprehen-
sions. Not only was Cochin-China, the base of our opera-
tions, not deserted by our flag, but such was the confidence
entertained for the future of the colony, that the governor,
in spite of the European complications, occasioned by the
events in Germany, had been able almost to double its terri-
tory, without causing the slightest embarrassment to France,
which would at this moment, when the pacific acquisition of
three provinces was obtained, have with difficulty denuded
herself of a single battalion. This considerable event in-
creased om- anxiety to arrive at Saigon — that French town
where om- departure had been saluted, as a pledge of future
prosperity, and where so many friendly hands would soon

AMERICAN STEAMERS. 353

clasp our own. But we had still, before reaching the Donai,
to leave the Yang-tse, to traverse a part of the Yellow, and
the whole of the Chinese Sea.

We embarked on one of those American steamers which
ply between Hankao and Shanghai. As I went on board, I
was filled with surprise and delight at the proportions of the
magnificent vessel, and I felt as a savage might feel when
he for the first time gazes on the apparition of these floating
masses, propelled by neither oar nor sail, and only moved
onward by the beating of then- own hearts of fire. But with
the first marvel of civilisation which we encountered, we also
came in contact with the prejudices of civilised men. We
were the only European passengers, and a number of first-
class beirths were unoccupied. The Chinese, on the contrary,
were crowded together, and confined in a narrow space — a
kind of 'Jews' quarter.' On board these merchant>-vessels,
the rule enforcing the separation of races is very stringent ;
and, in spite of all our remonstrances, our Tagals and An-
namites were separated firom us, and shut up apart, as if
they were lepers. Two years of peril, suffering, and rigid
self-denial, had raised these men to the level of the best ;
and they bitterly felt the outrage offered them by the Anglo-
Saxon captain's proud strictness.

Entirely given up to the pleasure of being alone in a
cabin, and finding a bed furnished with sheets ; absorbed by
the novel enjoyments to which my every movement gave
rise, I permitted myself to be carried on, for a length of time,
without troubling myself to go on deck and observe the banks
of the Yang-tse. We made a halt before Kiou-Kiang, the se-
cond station of European commerce, situated near the mouth
of the great lake Poyang. There also, along the straight
line of the quay, are erected luxurious hotels, of which the
solidity and fine proportions should make the native archi-
tects reflect on the inferiority attributed to Europeans in the
arts of peace.

After having learnt, to their cost, that we know how
to destroy, the Chinese must learn, at last, that we know
how to build. That which chiefly strikes the traveller, who,
in passing, contemplates the European establishments in the
Celestial Empire, is, the permanent character which is im-

AA

354 TRAVELS IN INUO-CHINA.

pressed on them from the beginning. The treaty had scarcely
been signed before palaces began to be erected ; and the rush
made to take possession, on a soil so long interdicted, was so
impetuous, that one cannot sometimes xefraiu from asking,
whether the goal has not been overshot. For example, at
Kiou-Kiang, business, eo long interfered with by the rebellion
of the Taipings, does not eeem to have acquired, in the hands
of Europeans, a development commensurate with the con-
siderable expenses which were necessarily incurred in its
first establishment. In the towns of the interior, the native
Chinese merchants, everywhere dangerous rivals, enter into
formidable competition with foreigners, especially since the
complete submission of the rebels. These latter inflicted on
the very richest portion of the empire ravages, of which we
have often seen the traces on the banks of the Yang-tse-
Kiang, but which were nowhere more horrible or prolonged
than in the lower basin of that great river. We arrived in
the night before Nanking ; and though this city was opened
to foreign commerce by the treaty of 1858, we did not stop
there. An ancient capital of the empire, renowned for its
schools, the guardian of the tombs of an Ulustrious royal
family, Nanking fell, in 1853, into the power of the Taipiugs,
who, dm-ing eleven years, made it the centre and focus of
the insurrection. It was there that their chie^ for a moment
able to think himself finally victorious, meditated founding,
to the south of the Blue River, an independent kingdom :
a gigantic dream, with which, in spite of the appearance
of a strict neutrality, a portion of the foreign colony asso-
ciated itself. Though it is already beginning to rise from
its ashes, Nanking, at the time of our passing it, was not
an object of much interest ; and had it been left to my de-
cision, I would not have wasted the two hours which we
spent in visiting it, thus retarding for that time our arrival
at Shanghai. The town of Tchin-Kiang is more worthy of
attention than the ruins of the Porcelain Tower. In 1842^
the Tartar troops in garrison there defended it valiantlyi'
against the English. It commands the entrance of that
famous canal, which, starting from the chief town of thi
maritime province of Tche-Kiang, cuts the Blue Eiver and
the Yellow River, traverses 300 leagues of country, and wai

THE GREAT CANAL. 355

formerly the main water-highway of the empire from its ex-
tremities to its centre. It was by it that far the greater part
of the taxes in kind was conveyed to Pekin. The province
of Yiman alone annually sent by this route 1200 jimks, laden
with ingots of copper. This colossal work, more worthy than
the Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of Tartary to ex-
cite the admiration of the world, has for the moment lost its
importance; but since the insurrection has been repressed,
the jimks, preferring the safe and easy navigation of this
internal artery, are, by degrees, abandoning the sea, and,
resuming their old habits, again begin to crowd the channel
of the Grand Canal. Tchin-Kiang is the last port of the
Blue Biver in wLich. European vessels coming from Hankao
are authorised to remain; Shanghai itself is situated more
than five leagues in the interior, at the point where the
Houang-pou joins the Vou-song, which empties itself into the
Yang-tse-Kiang, in face of the lower island of Tsoimg-ming.
Our steamer anchored, on the 12th of June 1868, in front of
this great d^pot of European commerce ; and while it dis-
charged the teas and the silks which it had taken in at
Hankao, we directed our steps to the French quarter, seek-
ing for the French consulate, where the graceful hospitality
of Madame Brenier de Montmorand made us, in two days,
forget the miseries of two years.

The European establishment at Shanghai is placed in a
peculiar position, not in accordance with the ordinary rules of
international law. It, in fact, constitutes a regular Euro-
pean colony, divided between English, French, and Ameri-
cans, administered by each, according to their own municipal
laws, with the assistance of a mayor and council, elected
under the superior authority of the consul.

This local organisation, independent of the Chinese func-
tionaries, was, not without reason, considered indispensable.
Instituted at a time when the rebels surroimded Shanghai,
it has survived those difficult times, and is based on the
belief in two facts — the weakness of the Chinese govern-
ment, and the incompatibility of the laws of the empire
with western civilisation. It is a decisive step on the road
which the son of the Celestial Empire has been compelled
to enter, the bayonet at his back, and one cannot but see in

356 TRAVELS I.V IXDO-CHINA.

it a concession which may, without rashness, be considered
as the prelude to more extended sacrifices.

It is on account of the depth of the port, and the excel-
lent position which Shanghai holds in the neighbourhood of
the tea and silk-producing districts,^" that it has been chosen
as the principal entrepot of foreign commerce with the Celes-
tial Empire. This choice having been made, nothing has
been neglected which could contribute to the erection of a
superb city, worthy of the mission assigned to it by its
founders, by the side of the Chinese town of this name. The
monotony of the site, and the moist unhealthiness of the
climate, recall the plains of Lower Cochin-China, which are
as flat and fertile as the Kiang-Sou. Nature often chooses
to unite in this manner ugliness and fertility.

Were I to pass over in silence the numerous proofs of sym-
pathy so prodigally given us by the French colony, I should
be ungrateful, and my narrative would be incomplete. The
fraternal banquet, to which ovuc compatriots were so good
as invite us, proved that France, though behind England,
America, and Eussia, in that part of China, in her commercial
greatness, still counts at Shanghai sons both numerous and
worthy of her. But I have too often given the reader an
account of our fatigues and sorrows, to allow him to tmder-
estimate the joy which a manifestation, so flattering, gave
us at the close of our jom-ney.

The passage from Shanghai to Hong-Kong took place,
without incident, on board the Duplex, a vessel belonging
to the Messageries Imp^riales, which had had the good for-
tune, a short time previously, thanks to the coolness and
experience of Commander Noel, to escape one of those fearful
cyclones, which render the navigation of the Chinese seas so
perilous. The Yang-tse, seven leagues wide at its mouth,
resembles the Kin-cha-Kiang, which we had traversed at
2200 miles from this spot, as the oak resembles the acorn;
but its waters had lost in transparency what they had gained
in volume, and the green river, which we had seen flow-
ing at Han-kao, between two precipitous mountains, had as-

1° Seven-eighths of the 40,000 bales of silk, and a third of the seventy-
five million kilogrammes of tea, exported annually from China, come from
Shanghai". {Sixteen Months round the World, by M. Siegfried.l

HONG-KONG. 357

sumed the appearance of a muddy ocean without shoves.
The swell of the waves showed our near approach to the
sea ; and was in my case followed by that faint sickness,
which resembles the intoxication one would find in a cask
of cider, or adulterated wine. Present sufferings always
appear most painful ; and I anathematised the tossings of
that perfidious element, whose rude motions made me think
kindly of the rough gait of the Laotian elephants. This
was, as may be imagined, only a passing impression, soon
dissipated by the appearance of the British island ; and it
will be believed, that even when my trouble was at the worst,
I had no inclination to regain Europe by land across the
whole of Asia. A journey of 10,000 kilometi-es in Indo-
China and in China had satisfied my ambition as explorer.

The history of Hong-Kong is known to every one in
Europe. This island, which is not ten leagues in circumfer-
ence, has become in thii-ty years^^ the fortunate rival of its
neighbour, the ancient Portuguese colony ; and Victoria, like
a rich millionaire, appears from the summit of her rock to
look down upon Macao, over which the memory of Camoens,
and the past greatness of Portugal, seem to throw a poetic
veil of melancholy. The safety and magnificence of the
roadstead induced the English to fix their choice on Hong-
Kong. They have gained a victory over natiure, which does
credit to their obstinate genius, assisted as it has been by a
marvellous instinct. The increasing development of Shang-
hai has notably diminished the extent of business at Canton ;
and Hong-Kong itself placed at the mouth of the river which
connect* the great mart of Southern China with the sea,
has itself suffered in its commercial prosperity. But with
resources of all kinds comprised within a narrow territory,
with its deep water overtopped and sheltered by mountains,
and its dry-docks, it has, nevertheless, continued to be the
great centre of steam, navigation in these latitudes. The
French company of the Messageries Imperiales persist in
maintaining their chief station at Hong-Kong, though it had
engaged with the government to establish it at Saigon.
Capitalists, who readily listen to the whisperings of interest,

^1 It was ceded to the English government by the treaty of Nanking in
1842.

358 TRAVELS IN INDOCHINA.

are deaf to the cries of patriotism ; and I must add that it
would be unjust, on this account, to quarrel with a great
company, which does so much honour to our flag in these
distant seas ; but still, since a dock has been built at Saigon,
one can hardly understand this delay on the part of the
Messageries, largely subsidied as they are by the State, in
the execution of an agreement, profitable to our growing
colony, and which in some degree touches the national
dignity.

The consequence to us of this organisation of the service,
which is to be regretted for more serious reasons, was that
we had the annoyance of disembarking, and of quitting the
Dupleix, which is specially assigned to the passage from
Hong-Kong to Shanghai, and of going on board the Impera-
trice, which runs between Hong-Kong and Suez.-'^ China
disappeared behind us, and the shores of the Annamite
peninsula soon began to appear above the horizon. We
coasted them towards the south-west, as far as the promon-
tory, which terminates them, and marks the entry of the
river of Saigon.

On an evening in December 1865, 1 had seen from a great
distance the feeble ray of light which streams from the sum-
mit of Cape St. Jacques, glimmering over the water. Thirty
months afterwards, having returned to the same spot, I saw
the white column of the lighthouse glittering in the midday
sun. Yielding to the superstitious inclination, which so
readily rises in the mind of one who has long lived in in-
timate communion with nature, I fancied that I saw, in such
very different spectacles, what seemed a symbol of the
modest beginning of our colony, and a presentiment of its
future development. In entering the river of Saigon, we
approached the Mekong, to which the Donai is joined by an
inland canal ; but we were not again to see the great river
that had so long borne us on its waters. I would not, indeed,
have consented to take the smallest trouble in order to pro-
cure me this sentimental satisfaction. For my part, I was in

^^ Since the openiBg of the Suez Canal, the packets run from Hong-
Kong to Marseilles. They have thus forty days consumption of fuel, while
the Enghsh are trying hard not to exceed twenty or twenty-five days. This
is another reason for making Saigon the head of the line.

RETROSPECT. 359

that frame of mind, when it even annoys one to be obliged to
turn round -with the earth, if one thinks of it; for after two
years of wanderings, absolute immobility and complete re-
pose seemed to me to be supreme happiness.

Wai-m as had been our reception by the French residing
at Hankao and Shanghai, that which greeted us at Saigon
was still more cordial. All those warm-hearted men, who
whilst courageously doing their duty in that land where they
suffer so much, but which they cannot help loving, rejoiced
with us at our safe return, and shared with us our mourning
sorrow. The entire colony, having at its head Admiral Ohier,
the successor of Admiral de La Grandifere, accompanied the
body of Commandant Lagr^e to the cemetery. He reposes
amidst his companions in arms, fallen, like himself for a
cause which has already made so many martyrs. The Eng-
lish have raised bronze statues in honour of the energetic
men who were the &st to force their way into the far inland
forests and prairies, and paid with their lives for the honour
of opening the Australian continent to their countrymen.
May we not expect from France that she will erect a dm-able
mouTunent to the intrepid chief, who, struggling at once
against climate, nature, and men, lost in this grand effort
a life already distinguished by so many eminent services in
Cochin-China, and especially in Cambodgia, where he was
the chief instrument in establishing the French protectorate?
I may be permitted to stay a short time by the side of this
tomb, in order to thi'ow a rapid glance over the results
obtained from this exploring expedition of the Mekong. It
will be the fittest funeral oration for the illustrious dead,
and the most natural conclusion for this humble work.

The readers who have been good enough to follow me,
from the frontiers of the kingdom of Cambodgia to the ceme-
tery of Saigon, are aware that our mission has done more
service to the general progress of science, than to the par-
ticular interests of the colony, whose funds supplied its cost.
As to what concerns the first part of the programme, which
was marked out for us, our long sojourn in the valley of the
Mekong, and our numerous excursions On both bapks of the
river, have corrected the errors, and set at rest, by lifting the
veil from the doubts which had hitherto led geographers to

360 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

false and uncertain conclusions, in describing the eastern
zone of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. The capricious windings
of the Mekong ; the prolongation of its course to the west,
at the eighteenth parallel of latitude ; the importance of its
affluents; the strength and volume of its waters, and, if I
may ventm-e to say so, the proof of its individuality, which,
contrai-y to the received opinion, continues to the end of its
course ;" the certainty of its entry into Yunan, where it receives
the waters of Lake Tali, and into Thibet, where it has its
source — all these obscure points were cleared up. La a word,
we brought back precise information respecting the whole
course of an immense river, that rises amidst the snows, and
completes its course under a burning sun. On the other
hand, there are the exact observations and seemingly well-
foimded information respecting the other rivers of Indo-
China;^* as to their position in different parts of their course,
and the limits of their basins ; and, in addition, many par-
ticulars respecting a part of China itself, which had been,
hitherto, the least known. These, I ask permission to call
the discoveries of the expedition directed by M. de Lagr^e,
in the domains of geography — discoveries w^hich certainly
constitute the larger part of our booty ; and I am the more
ready to state them, from having not directly contributed to
them.

Although in political and commercial matters our suc-
cess was not so great, still even here our efforts were not
entirely fruitless.

Without entering into details of the subjects, thoroughly
sifted by M. de Lagr^e, before the commencement of our
journey, I will only call attention to the light which the la-
bours of the commission have permitted him to throw on the
persevering work of absorption, which the court of Bangkok
is constantly pursuing, in Indo-China. This absorption is
effected by the aid of the embarrassments, which Europeans

^3 That which supposes the union of the Mekong and Meinam.

^* The Meinam and tiiie Tongkin rivers are, in comparison with their
powerful neighbours, only secondary streams, which take their som-ce in the
last ramifications of the -Himalaya mountains. The Irawady, Salween,
Mekong, and Kin-cha-ELang, on tlie contrary, penetrate into the very heart
of the great range. These three rivers coming nearer each other as they
flow away from their sources, follow, for long, almost parallel directions.

OUR FUTURE POLICY. 361

have created, between those ancient rivals, the Burmese and
the Annamites. Its result has been, to leave nothing exist-
ing of the Laotian nationality but a name, and to make of
Vien-Chan, its principal centre, a mass of ruins. It is still
this ambition, so long favoured by fortime, -which, after hav-
ing forced back the emperor of Annam from the valley of the
Mekong, to which river his dominions formerly reached, has,
by keeping alive the antipathies of races, at this day, ren-
dered any resumption of commercial relations, between the
Annamites and Laotians, impossible. We have, also, been
able to obtain evidence that the yoke of Siam, in itself toler-
ably light on the people, weighs heavily on the pride of cer-
tain great vassals ; for instance, on the king of Luang-Pra-
ban, whose friendship might be very useful for us. It will be
recollected, that his states border on Tongkin ; that they are
inhabited by a vigorous and pushing race ; and that we found
in his capital a considerable commercial activity, evinced by
a daily market, the only one, probably, which exists in the
whole of Siamese Laos. On the day when our advice, given
with prudence, and firmly pressed, shall have effected a
union of subjects by curbing the ambition of their princes,
Annamite merchants, replacing the Burmese pedlars, will
start from the banks of the Tongkin to carry to Luang-
Praban, and thus to the greater part of the middle and
lower valley of the Mekong, the tissues and other manu-
factin-es of Europe, at present introduced almost exclusively
by Bangkok.

The course of the great river, utilised by means of large
rafts, would then render important services to this com-
merce, restored to its natural channel. As to steam navi-
gation, it is useless to expect to extend it beyond its present
limits. This first delusion, which was rudely dissipated at
our very starting-point, went near to spoil om: whole journey.
But there was a compensation in reserve. To enter China
in Bpite of the probabilities to the contrarj-, to escape from
the hands of the Burmese with only the sacrifice of some
healtb, and the loss of our whole wardrobe, and to disap-
point the Englisb, was assuredly a success. Brit the colony,
which had conceived the idea of our expedition, expected
from our efforts an effective result in a material point of

362 TRAVELS IN INDO-CHINA.

view. We could say to it, it is true, that Saigon is for ever
separated from China by a long series of cascades and rapids,
and in this manner destroy the most favourite of its dreams ;
but these would have been words painful to utter, and
still more painfiil to hear. As often happens, we found con-
solation for this disappointment in a quarter where we least
expected it, in consequence of a forced change in our pro-
gramme, introduced by M. de Lagr^e. I must mention that
this modification, which was subsequently acknowledged to
have been necessary, was, when first announced to us, se-
verely criticised by all. We were compelled by the Mussul-
man revolt to leave the Mekong, in order to gain the Sonkoi ;
to abandon geography, and solve a problem of more practical
and immediate importance. It does not appear to me now,
that there is any reason for regretting this circumstance,
especially as, having sought and made acquaintance with the
rebels, we were edified by their hospitable virtues.

I have ah-eady explained the importance of the infor-
mation we acquired respecting the river Tonkin at the time
of our passage to Tuen-Eaang. In my opinion this is a
principal point, which I do not think it will be useless to
mention again. In default of a protectorate over the whole
of Annam, which the change efiiected in the ideas of Tu-
Duc and his mandarins, since the seizure of the three pro-
vinces of the west, may some day cause to be accepted at
Hu6, it is a first necessity that our commerce should have
free access to all parts of that empire ; that it should be able
to ascend, without being disturbed, the course of the navig-
able waters of upper Cochin-Ghina and of Tonkin, Among
the latter, the Sonkoi deserves particular attention. Both
from what we were able ourselves to see, and still more from
the repoirts which we heard, it promises to realise all the
hopes and expectations which the Mekong destroyed. Unit-
ing China with a country which cannot long escape French
influence, it is predestined to carry to the sea the produc-
tions of Tonkin itself, and the wealth of a portion of Yunan,
Setchuan, Kouei-tcheou, and Kouangsi. To speak only of
Yunan, I find by an English document, that in 1854, the year
which preceded the Mussulman insurrection, an interchange
of traffic took place between that province and Burmah, re-

ANTICIPATIONS. 363

presenting a value of half a million sterling. This commerce,
carried on by means of caravans, which took twenty days to
go to Bahmo^* from Tali, crossing the Mekong (Lantsang-
Kiang) and the Salween (Loutse-Kiang), was fed by Yunan
and the neighbouring provinces. Russian fabrics, coming by
way of Siberia, even entered Burmah by this route. There
is reason to believe that the kingdom of Ava, which fur-
nishes to the Chinese a great quantity of cotton, would con-
tinue to attract a certain number of traders ; but it is easy to
perceive, that if the trade was set free from trammels and
prohibitions, and encouragement were given to it, it would
spread of itself, and be extended over the valley of Sonkoi.
The disturbance caused in Yiman by the civil war affords us
a precious occasion to make an effort, the advantages of
which may be measured beforehand by the umbrage it al-
ready gives to our rivals.

There is something beyond this. Like a corpse pre-
served for a long time under the bell of an exhausted re-
ceiver, whose dissolution is hastened when it comes into
contact with the outward air, China is being decomposed
by the breath of European ideas. This empire, the oldest
that exists under the sun, is, in its turn, falling into ruin, its
hour is approaching, and it would have in all probability
already come, but for the mutual jealousy which is felt by its
heirs. The progress of Russia in the north, the strong posi-
tion held by the English in the west, the concealed projects
entertained by other powers, of which the marks of sym-
pathy given to the chiefs of the Taipings was a curious
symptom — ^in a word, the force of circumstances, and the
weakness of the Chinese themselves, enable us to foresee
the dismemberment of that ancient empire, whose founda-
tion was laid, thousands of years ago, by Fohi. In the
presence of such an eventuality France should be prepared.
Her part is traced out by the position which she already
holds on the Annamite peninsula. It is absolutely neces-

1^ Steamers can ascend the Irawady as far as Sahmo. From this place
one can reach in six days, across a mountainous country, inhabited by
independent savages, the large village of Langchankai, situated south-west
of Yonhtchang, between the Irawady and the Salweenj which is the first
market in Yunan. It is this short distance which the English have, as yet,
been unable to pass.

364 TRAVELS IN KS'DO-CHINA.

sary that she should exercise a paramount influence at Ton-
kin, which is for her the key of China, and that, without
hurrying by any impatience the course of events, she should
show her flag to the people whose protectorate may some
day fall into her hands.

It requires perhaps some courage, at the present hour, to
announce such a conclusion, and to speak to France of her
interests in the East. As the wind blows towards Byzantine
discussions, and in favour of searchers for the philosopher's
stone, since the doctors, done with prescriptions, take the
course of consulting the sick man, the first comer may point
out a remedy. This remedy for the evil which oppresses
us is, assuredly, not new ; but it has the merit of having
been proved by the experience of others, and may be summed
up in two plain words — emigration and colonisation.

For more than half a century, constantly expressed in
terms, at bottom identical, the problem of the proletariat and
of poverty will continue to be a permanent cause of sterile
agitations for us, so long as the theorists of socialism, con-
centrating their thoughts on the narrow territory of their
native country, confine their efforts to exciting those who
possess nothing against those who possess anything. A
considerable portion of the globe still remains unexplored,
and in the regions already known and described, all the pro-
letariats of France, if they had the courage and the intelli-
gence, might possess themselves of vast domains, by the
right of fii-st occupation. Thanks to the solitudes of Africa,
this will remain true for a long time to come ; as regards the
remaining portion of the globe, time presses ; and the Latin
races have not a moment to lose, if they do not wish to be
permanently excluded from it. The Anglo-Saxons are grasp-
ing the world; and if our destinies accomplish themselves
in the manner already predicted by men, whom an ardent
love for their country has inspired with a sad eloquence,
France, with her forty millions of inhabitants, will cease to
be anything but a school of political casuists, where the lords
of the universe may come to hear fine discourses on the
sovereignty of the people. 'China will be, according to all
probability, for Australia, what India has been for England ;
and should England be some day eclipsed, it is not less pro-

THE ANGLO-SAXON FUTURE. 365

bable that India also would fall into the hands of the Aus-
tralians. But let us leave on one side all these conjectures,
though they present themselves to the mind with all the
appearance of truth, arid confine ourselves to drawing the
sole conclusion which interests us from facts already estab-
lished. Whether Australia or the United States, some day,
get the command of the Chinese seas, of India, and of Japan;
whether England continue to hold her own empire there,
or yield it up to the two young rivals, who have sprung
from her own bosom, — our children are no less certain to
see the Anglo-Saxon race mistress of Oceania, as well as of
America, and of all parts of the extreme East, which can
be ruled, occupied, or influenced by those who hold pos-
session of the sea. When things have arrived at this point
(and it is a great deal to say it will require two centuries
for this), Avill it be possible to avoid confessing, that fi-om one
end of the globe to the other the world is Anglo-Saxon V
{La France Nbuvelle, par M. Pr^vost-Paradol.)

With their enervating climate, which confines Europeans
to the transactions of commercial affairs, and forbids them,
on pain of death, to attempt labour or production, our An-
namite provinces are rather a counting-house than a colony,
properly so called. But India also is a counting-house, and
yet it is far from useless to the grandeur of England. Never-
theless, perspectives ftill of the deepest interest and attraction
open from Saigon, beyond the mountains of Tonldn, over the
fertile and healthy countries of Western China and Thibet.
Fortune, which has so often in our colonies made us pay for
"her favours of a day by lasting betrayal, appears to have
become less cruel. Louisiana and Canada escaped from our
hands, in spite of our efforts, at two periods which were fatal
to our maritime power; Cochin-China, on the contrary, has
survived ; and has prospered notwithstanding the hesitations
of the government. One may say of it, that of all our distant
enterprises, this one has been the least premeditated and the
most fortimate, the most slighted and the most fhiitful, the
most obscure and the most useftd ; it is the work of our for-
tune rather than of our will.

THE END.

I/ONDON!
EOBSON iND SONS, PRINTERS, PANCEAS ROAD, N.W.